


Masks

by MiladyDragon



Series: Dragon-Verse: Future Adventures [16]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Doctor Who (2005), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Torchwood
Genre: Aliens, Alternate Universe - Dragons, Daisy's Adventures in the Future, Dragon-Verse, Gen, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-28
Updated: 2017-07-10
Packaged: 2018-11-20 07:08:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 28,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11330943
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiladyDragon/pseuds/MiladyDragon
Summary: Daisy Johnson is minding her own business when a stranger in a bow tie asks her for her help...to save Coulson.  Only this Coulson is very different from the one she knows.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is another story that's really more Agents of SHIELD than Torchwood, although Ianto does appear in this one, as do several dragon family members. It's from Daisy's POV, and I had a lot of fun writing her. 
> 
> This takes place after SHIELD S2, although a lot of things are different. For one thing, Trip lives, as he wasn't the one to get trapped in the temple with Daisy and Raina...and you'll see who was in this, but that person didn't die, either. Torchwood and SHIELD are very closely affiliated, as there are several mentions in this of things that Torchwood aided SHIELD with. Many of these I hope to expand into their own stories at some point.

 

**_15 July 2015 (Old Earth Date)_ **

**_Milwaukee, WI_ **

****

Daisy Johnson sighed, relaxing back into the plastic chair, taking a deep breath of the coffee and pastry scented air, glad to be away from the chaos of the Playground, if just for the day.

Things had been so nuts lately, and that wasn’t just counting her gaining some freaky superpowers.  Although, the freaky superpowers were also nuts, but she was finally getting a handle on them…which was what had allowed her to get away from SHIELD for a few hours, knowing that she wouldn’t accidentally cause any buildings to collapse was a good thing. 

It also meant that she could be all stalkery toward her dad, who didn’t remember her at all now.

Daisy needed to stop.  She needed to let her dad, now Dr Winslow, the friendly veterinarian, live his new life.  She needed to stop going to see him, when all it did was cause more heartbreak.

The former Calvin Zabo had been a homicidal monster, whose only motivation had been finding his daughter and keeping her safe.  He’d done that.  Now, he deserved his new life.

Besides, she had a new family now.  Her SHIELD family.

Daisy sighed, glancing at her watch.  They’d be expecting her back anytime now.  Trip had said he’d come and pick her up soon, and she needed to be at the rendezvous point shortly.

Taking the last sip of her coffee, Daisy reached around to the back of her chair for her backpack, just as someone took a seat at her table.

“Hope this seat isn’t taken,” a friendly, British-accented voice exclaimed.

“Not at all, I was just leaving – “  Scooting her chair out, Daisy stood, not even bothering to look at the table interloper.  Not that she cared, really.  The coffee shop was fairly busy and seats were at a premium.

“I was actually hoping I could speak to you, Agent Johnson.”

 _That_ got her attention.

She glared down at the man.  He looked young, but there was something off about him, something she couldn’t put her finger on.  He had dark hair that flopped down over a high forehead, a boyish face with just a little too much chin, and piercing green eyes.  From what she could see, he was dressed in a deep purple coat that didn’t quite blend in, and the dark blue bow tie didn’t quite match it.  A black waistcoat over a white shirt completed the strange ensemble.

Daisy had no clue who he was.

“I’m sorry, but I think you have me confused with someone else.”  He didn’t _look_ like HYDRA, but that didn’t mean a thing.  Ward hadn’t looked like a traitor, either, and look what happened with _him_.

The man gave her a disingenuous smile.  “Daisy Johnson?  Once known as Skye?  Or Mary Sue Poots?” He made a face at that.  “I can certainly understand why you’d change it, why the nuns at the orphanage would have decided on that unfortunate name, I don’t know…”

Okay, he shouldn’t know that.  Hell, no one knew that outside of a few select people, and Daisy wanted to keep it that way.  “Who are you?” she hissed, sitting back down.  She could feel her power reacting to her anger and confusion, and she stuffed it back down, but not before the table shook, causing ripples in the man’s cup of…was that tea?

His eyes lit up when he noticed the mini-tremor.  “Oh, that’s beautiful!  I’d ask you to do that again but I don’t want to draw too much attention to us.” 

So, he wasn’t afraid of her.  That was actually…refreshing.  “I think you’re a little late for not wanting to draw attention.”  She waved a hand toward his outfit.

The man was outraged.  He reached up, straightening his bow tie.  “I’ll have you know that bow ties are cool.  And you haven’t seen me in a fez yet.  It’s quite fetching.”

This guy was a real weirdo, but Daisy didn’t dare get up and leave, not wanting to let him out of her sight.  Maybe she could get him to the pick-up point somehow and take him back to SHIELD…Coulson would know what to do with him then.

But then, he leaned across the table, his eyes catching hers and holding her gaze.  There was something in that gaze, something old and powerful, and it had Daisy wondering again just who the hell this guy was.  “Alright,” she said, “you have my attention.  How do you know me, and what do you want?”

“Two very easy questions, actually.”  The man took a sip of his tea.  “I’m called the Doctor, and I know you because Phillip Coulson told me about you.”

Daisy gave him the side-eye.  “You know Coulson?”

“Oh yes.  He and I are quite good friends…or we will be, in the future.  We haven’t actually met yet, to be honest, although I _have_ met a member of his family, back in 1969, and we kicked a particularly nasty set of alien overlords off the planet together.”

“Wait…”  Alright, this was getting even weirder.  What was this guy intimating?  That he was some sort of time traveller?  Or was he just completely crazy?

It certainly said something that she wasn’t questioning the ‘alien overlords’ part of that.

“Okay, so that wasn’t so easy, after all.”  The Doctor looked put out.  “Well, it was, but I’m getting a bit ahead of myself…or is it behind?  Even I sometimes get the phrasing wrong, and I’m a Time Lord.”  He shook his head.  “And what is it about contacting people in coffee shops, anyway?  Although the last time I did that, it involved Merlin and Arthur and that mess with GenCorp…”  He took another sip.  “And this tea is awful.  But I can’t order coffee anywhere anymore, now that I’ve had Ianto’s…oh, I might not have wanted to say that, considering I won’t see him again for a couple of millennia…for him, at least. For me it’ll be a couple of hours from now, depending on how this conversation goes.”

Daisy felt as if she’d just had a lot of nonsense words vomited all over her, but she stiffened when she realised he’d just mentioned a ‘Ianto’.  “You know about Ianto?” she demanded, latching onto the one familiar thing in that entire, rambling speech.

“Do I know Ianto?” the Doctor grinned.  “Of course I know Ianto!  The Last Dragon?  His grandson is mated to my son, which I guess means that I’m family.  But that’s quite a ways into the future, so you might not want to mention any of that to him, the next time you see him.  After all, at this point in his history we’re not really on speaking terms, and chances are he’d try to warn you away from me.  It’s not that way now; well, in the future, but we still have to kiss and make up at this point in his history. Okay, not kiss, because Jack and River would most likely get really jealous, and I don’t want to get regenerated at this point in time.  I quite like the way I am now.”

Damnit, this really was getting surreal.  Daisy wasn’t at all sure how to take any of this.  

“I can see you’re confused and not really believing a word I’ve said,” the Doctor went on before Daisy could ask for some sort of clarification, “so let me start over.”  He sat up a little, offering his hand.  “Hello, I’m the Doctor.  I’m a friend of Phillip Coulson’s, and I need your help.”

Without even thinking about it, Daisy shook the hand.  The skin was a bit cool, which was strange since he’d just been holding the warm cup, but she didn’t bother with it.  She’d seen many stranger things than someone running a little chillier than usual.

Having her mother try to kill her was right at the top of that list.

“Let’s say I believe you,” she said, once she was done with the hand shaking, “how can I help you?   From what you said, you can’t just come out and ask Coulson, because of not knowing him now…which is totally bizarre, really…”

The Doctor waved the hand that she’d just shook.  “It’s timey wimey.  You get used to it.”

“Really?” she said snippily.

The guy didn’t seem at all bothered by her sarcasm, which was a shame.  “Anyway, like I said…I need your help.  Phillip assured me I could trust you, and that’s good enough for me, but there are also timelines involved and the last thing we need is a paradox.  So, I need your word that what I’m about to tell you is only between the two of us.”

There was another face at the taste of the tea, but he didn’t say anything else as he waited for whatever Daisy decided. 

If what he was asking was true, then he was asking her to lie to her team.  To her _family_.

And not just to them, because apparently this Doctor person also knew Ianto, and Jack, and they’d had kids…or at least one, in the future, and Daisy couldn’t say a thing about it.  She _owed_ Ianto, for him trying to help her when she first got her powers.  And she owed Coulson more than she could ever hope to repay.

Could she lie to them?  Or, at least, not tell them what was going on?

If the Doctor wasn’t lying – and there was no guarantee of that – then Coulson himself had told him that he could trust her.  But, in the future. 

Okay, could she really not afford to help?

Besides, this guy was claiming to be a time traveller.  Maybe she could get a trip in the man’s time machine…

“Tell what you need,” she finally said.

The smile she got was almost blinding. 

“But there’s something I want in return.”

The smile vanished, to be replaced a scrutiny that, quite frankly, threatened to freak her out more than she already was.

“I want a trip in your time machine.”

The smile was back.  “One trip.  It’s a fair price to pay for you helping me.”

Daisy held out her hand this time, to seal the deal.

The Doctor took it, shook a little harder than was absolutely necessary, then said, “I would have offered anyway.”

Of course, he would have.

“I would have helped Coulson, too, without the trip.”

He gave her a knowing grin for that.

“Then how can I help?”

The Doctor stood.  “Let’s take this to somewhere a bit more private, shall we?  My TARDIS is right around the corner.”

 

**********

 

It turned out that the TARDIS – the Doctor’s time machine – resembled a blue box that had the word ‘Police’ written on it.

Yep, Daisy had definitely taken the looking glass to Wonderland.

“Why isn’t anyone noticing it?” she asked as they approached.  It was obvious; the machine was parked on the corner, and the pedestrians were walking around it as if they weren’t even seeing it, yet were completely aware it was there enough to avoid slamming into it.

“Perception filter,” the Doctor answered breezily.  He had a key in his hand, and with the flick of a wrist he had the door unlocked and thrown open, gesturing her inside.

For a split second, Daisy hesitated.  She had no real idea that the Doctor was telling her the truth, even though he’d known more about her than a lot of people she could name. Once she set foot in that box, she would be trapped…

But hey, she had her powers.  Surely, she’d be able to get out of it, if it came down to it.  The box itself looked a little rickety, so it wouldn’t be able to withstand her abilities.

Taking a deep breath and hoping she wasn’t making a mistake, Daisy stepped into the TARDIS.

And was floored.

“Holy shit,” she gasped, stopping just inside the door.

The Doctor strode past her.  “You can say it, you know.”

Daisy was stunned.  How in the hell did such a big room fit into that blue box?

She darted outside quickly.  Sure enough, the outside was still the box.

Daisy practically jumped back into the TARDIS.  “It’s bigger in the inside!” she exclaimed.  “That is freaking _awesome_!”

The Doctor was beaming.  “She is, isn’t she?”

He was standing in the centre of the enormous room, by what had to have been the controls.  It was a six-sided, mushroom sort of shape, set onto a floor that she could see through; the lower level was all cabling and wires, and it all hooked into the base of the console.  A tall, clear pillar rose to the high ceiling, and three concentric rings were at the top, with strange designs on them.  There were a couple of seats against the railing that encircled the controls. 

A set of steps went up to what looked like a hallway that went deeper into the ship, and another set that went down.  Daisy was amazed that the TARDIS was so much larger than just the control room, and she was itching to explore the entire time machine.

There was a muffled thud, and she spun to see that the door had closed.  Still, Daisy wasn’t afraid now of getting trapped; she was confident she could lose herself inside the ship if she needed to escape the Doctor.

But something was telling her that wouldn’t be necessary.

The Doctor was watching her as she nosed around.  “You convinced?”

Daisy was nodding as she turned back to look at him.  “So, what can I do to help?”

The playful grin he’d been wearing dropped from his face, making him look about as serious as a heart attack.  He leaned against the console, arms crossed over his chest.  “Okay.”  He took a deep breath.  “If I’ve got the coordinates right, then Phillip’s had his hand chopped off already, and it’s grown back.”

Daisy’s mouth dropped open even as she was nodding in acknowledgement.  That had just happened a couple of months ago.  Simmons and Owen Harper, Torchwood’s Chief Medical Officer, were both convinced it had something to do with the GH325 that Coulson had been doped with.  It had been the freakiest thing Daisy had ever witnessed, seeing Coulson’s arm go from a stump to having a completely new hand in a just a few weeks. 

“If you don’t know already,” the Doctor went on, “it has to do with the way Phillip was resurrected.  What you might _not_ know yet, is that that’s just the tip of the iceberg, as it were.”

“What do you mean?” Daisy demanded.   “If there’s something wrong with Coulson…”  She didn’t want to think about it.  Coulson had been the closest thing she’d had for a father, until her own biological dad had shown up and tried to kill everybody.

“I come from the future,” the Doctor answered.  “Over three thousand years in the future…and Phillip Coulson is still alive.”

Daisy suddenly felt the need to sit down.

The Doctor was at her side before she could even register it, and he guided her over to one of the chairs, helping her to sit.  Her eyes met his, and there was such sadness there that Daisy had to catch her breath.

This… really was insane.  Coulson was still alive, three thousand years into the future?

She wanted the Doctor to be lying, but it was obvious he wasn’t.  Somehow, the GH325 had extending Coulson’s life far beyond what was normal.

Then her blood chilled. 

She’d been given the GH formula as well, after Ian Quinn had shot her.

Did that mean…?

“No,” he assured her, when she asked.  “You’re not like Phillip.  Different circumstances entirely, I promise.  For one thing, you weren’t stabbed with a magical spear.  Phillip was, and that just complicated things.  You, Daisy Johnson, might be Inhuman but you’re not immortal, so don’t worry about that.”

“Alright,” she murmured, getting better control over her emotions. 

A lot of people might have thought that being…what Coulson was, she couldn’t just say it for some reason…would have been amazing.  But she knew the truth; she knew Ianto and Jack, and understood just how badly things had been for them in the past. 

And now, she’d just been told that Coulson – that _Phil_ , the man who was as close to her as a father – was in the same boat.    

It wasn’t _fair_.

It made her want to go, dig up Nick Fury from whatever hole he’d dug for himself, pull him out and shake him until his teeth rattled.  And then rattle him in another way.

“Hey, calm down,” the Doctor soothed her.  “You’re going to shake the TARDIS apart.”

That was when Daisy noticed that the machine was, indeed, shaking around her, and she reined in her power as best she could.  When she got upset, she was prone to let her power get out of control, and she needed to wrestle it back so she wouldn’t do any damage.  Yes, she’d learned a lot in Afterlife with Lincoln and her mother, but her control still wasn’t complete.

“It’s not as bad as all that,” he tried to reassure her.  “Phillip has friends, and family, and he’s quite happy.  But…something happened.  And I need your help to fix things.”

“Anything,” she vowed.  “What happened?”

“There was…an accident.”  The Doctor plopped himself down beside her, taking her hand in what was obviously an effort to comfort her.  “What Phillip is also going to find out – besides the immortality – is that, somehow, a part of Loki’s magic got transferred to him as well.  It takes him a long time to reconcile that, and he does learn to use it…but it’s not very pleasant for him.  He really hates it.”

“I can imagine.”  Anything that would remind him of his death at Loki’s hands wouldn’t have been a good thing, but magic?  How was that even possible?

Coulson had always prided himself on being the ‘Everyman’, the one that was ordinary and yet could stand up to extraordinary things.  It seemed as if he was becoming the very extraordinary thing that he’d always stood up to.

“The thing is,” the Doctor went on, “is that the magic and the GH325 have been in balance for millennia.  The magic wanted to completely settle into his DNA, but the formula wouldn’t let it.  But, as I said, an accident happened, and now the magic is stronger than the GH325 and it’s becoming more and more difficult for his body to maintain its equilibrium.  What makes it worse, is that it’s a form of ice magic, and the GH formula is also having to continuously heal the damage done by the cold that Phillip’s body keeps generating.  At the moment, we have things under some sort of control, but it won’t last.  We need to get things back into balance.  If we don’t…well, we don’t want to lose him.”

Daisy found it suddenly hard to breathe.  To find out that Coulson was immortal, but was slowly being killed by the very thing that had made him that way… “What can I do?”

Because, she would do anything to save him.  Phil Coulson had done the same for her, and this would only touch on repaying the debt she felt she owed him. 

“We thought we’d consult the notes on the original TAHITI procedure,” the Doctor answered.  “The problem with that is, we don’t know what happened to them.  Over the millennia, they’ve vanished.  Phillip is convinced he destroyed it all, a long time ago, but…humans aren’t meant to be immortal, and his memory is a bit fuzzy on the subject.”

She wouldn’t have blamed him one bit for getting rid of the thing that had made him like that, and she said as much.

The Doctor nodded sharply in agreement.  “I did go to Nicholas Fury first, but he assured me that the Phillip of this time had everything on the project…”  He looked at her expectantly, and Daisy got it in an instant.

“You need me to get the files for you.”

There wasn’t even a choice in it.  If they were to help Coulson in the future, then she was the logical one to do what the Doctor was asking. 

“I know it’s a lot to ask,” the Doctor rambled on, “but we need that to figure out the GH325 and the effects it has on Phillip’s biodata.  We’d normally just go and do a few scans, but the formula is now so integrated into his cells that it’s nearly impossible to differentiate between cellular function and just what the formula is augmenting.  We can tell it’s there, and it’s failing, but we don’t know anything beyond that.  We need that information if we’re going to get things back into some form of balance.”  He grimaced.  “We also sent to Asgard, although we didn’t expect Loki to help.  The last time Phillip approached him about the magic, Loki just laughed in his face. So, you can imagine the Trickster not volunteering to help now.  We also tried a healer, but because the GH325 is an artificial compound that’s simply grafted itself to Phillip’s genome, they couldn’t affect it.  We’ve managed to suppress the magic, but that’s only a temporary measure.  We suppress it too much, the GH325 fails, and Phillip loses his immortality.”

“Does he really want to live forever?”  Daisy had heard both Jack and Ianto saying that immortality had been a curse, until they’d found each other.  Being alone had been the worst sort of curse imaginable.

There was a soft smile at the Doctor’s animated face.  “He does.  He finally has someone to spend his eternity with, and he doesn’t want to lose that.  More importantly, he doesn’t want his family to have to lose _him_.”   His expression went grave.  “He’ll fight as long as he can, but eventually it won’t be enough.” 

That, more than anything, made Daisy’s decision so much more easy.  Yes, saving Coulson’s life was her number one goal, but knowing he had family who would stand with him meant he wasn’t alone. 

She stood.  “So, how do I get in touch with you when I have all the information?”

The Doctor bounced to his feet, that blindingly happy grin back in place.  He reached into the pocket of his outrageous coat – which really did fit the personality Daisy had seen so far – and pulled out a small disc.  “This is a teleporter,” he explained.  “It’s very short range, but I’ll be able to home in on its signal and park the TARDIS close enough for you to get back to once you have the files.”  He handed it to her.  “Don’t worry about anyone else picking up on it; the signal is a temporal harmonic that the TARDIS has been set up to trace.  I’d go myself, but it’s too dangerous to the timelines.  Phillip _can’t_ meet me now; it’s too early.”

Daisy accepted the metal disc; it was cool against her skin.  There wasn’t anything on it for her to push, and she asked how to use it.

“Just rub your thumb across the surface in a circular pattern,” he explained.  “That will activate it.  Oh, and it’s only set to your biodata, so no one else will be able to make it work.  Not that I think you’d let it fall into the wrong hands…that’s future tech, and I’m sure I don’t have to mention disrupting timelines again…”

“No, I get it.”  Daisy slipped the disc into the pocket of her jeans. 

She should have felt guilty about this.  Daisy was about to do something that could be misconstrued as betraying her team...her Director, yes, but he was more to her than just her leader.  He was the man who had seen something in her, and forgave her for her earlier betrayal of him, back before HYDRA had made a mess of their lives. 

But there wasn’t even a bit of hesitation.  This was Coulson’s life at stake, if the Doctor was being truthful, and she didn’t doubt that he was.  There was something in his manner that made her trust him, and it didn’t help that he knew things about her that Coulson would have had to tell him. 

Coulson had been like a father to her, when no one else had wanted the job.  His life was worth a little espionage against friends.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

 

**_15 July 2015 (Old Earth Date)_ **

**_The Playground (Location Redacted)_ **

****

The Quinjet landed in the subterranean hangar of the Playground, the bump of the wheels on the tarmac so gentle that Daisy wouldn’t have even felt it if it hadn’t been for her powers, which had made her really sensitive about any sort of vibrations now.

“Home again, home again,” Trip almost sang as he unbuckled and then climbed out of the pilot’s chair.  He looked happy, which meant whatever mission Coulson had sent him out on had been a success.

“Thanks for the drop-off and pick up,” Daisy said as she unhooked her own harness. 

“Not a problem,” Trip grinned.  “I get it, I really do.”

Trip was awesome like that, because he really _did_ get it.

Grabbing her backpack from the seat beside her, Daisy was up and out of the Quinjet on Trip’s heels, needing to get shit done and then back to the Doctor.  She was aware that, if she was caught, there’d be no coming back from what she was about to do.  Stealing the TAHITI files would most likely be the one unforgivable thing she could do; she was well aware of what Coulson had gone through to be brought back, and he’d never want that to happen to anyone else.  Case in point: his attempt to stop them from injecting her with the formula, back when Daisy had been dying from the gunshot wounds that Ian Quinn had given her.  Only, he’d been too late to stop Simmons from giving her the GH325. 

Coulson had gone through hell because of that shit.  Daisy was just damned lucky it hadn’t happened to her, as well.

“Gotta go and report to the boss,” Trip said as they made their way down the ramp and into the Playground’s hangar.  “You gonna be okay?”

Daisy gave him her best, reassuring smile.  “Yep.  And you have my permission to tell that to Coulson, because you know he’s going to ask.”

Trip laughed.  “Too right, girl.  See ya later.”  He walked a little faster than she was, getting ahead and into the main corridor into the base before she did.

Daisy shook her head.  Trip was one of her best friends, and she was more than grateful that he hadn’t turned out to be a HYDRA goon, not like a certain asshole currently rotting away in a tiny cell within a holding facility outside of London had.  She’d once asked Trip if Garrett had ever hinted around at joining up with HYDRA, and he’d claimed not, but he’d figured he wasn’t good HYDRA material anyway, since he was about as far from being a Nazi poster boy as a person could get.

Ward’s betrayal didn’t quite hurt as much as it once had, but it was still there, a hard lump in her chest. 

She’d get over it. 

Someday.

Anyway, on to business.

Daisy made her way to her quarters, where she knew she’d have a bit of privacy.  Her first order of business would be to get into the servers and make copies of all the information that had been downloaded into the system. 

Once she was in her room, she tugged off the combat boots she’d chosen that morning and then curled up on the bed with her laptop, logging into SHIELD’s dedicated servers.

This part of the operation was fairly simple; after all, she was the one who’d put the majority of the security protocols in place, and knew where her backdoors were.  She’d had a blast when Toshiko had shown up at the Playground; together, they’d done things with SHIELD’s mainframe that shouldn’t have been possible. 

Honestly, Daisy wanted to be Toshiko Sato-Swanson when she grew up.  Well, those times she didn’t want to be Melinda May, of course.

Daisy navigated the systems easily, erasing her footprints as she went.  She first got to Simmons’ medical files, copying them onto the Darth Vader flash drive that Fitz had gotten her for Christmas.

She really did have the best friends.

Next came the technical specs that Coulson had found in the Toolbox and had shared with Fitz.  That was the machine that they’d used on her Dad, and just seeing it on the screen in all its gory glory made Daisy shiver.  How had anyone thought that sort of thing was a good idea?  Well, apparently Fury had, since he’d ordered it used on Coulson.  Her father had volunteered, wanting a fresh start, and Daisy had been a coward and not watched knowing what Coulson had gone through under its octopus-like probes.

Coulson had, and she wondered just what sort of nightmares he was going to have because of it.

She even went ahead and included the files on the memory machine they’d confiscated from Centipede.  They probably wouldn’t need it, but Daisy did like to be thorough.

It took her about half an hour to collect everything that had been in the servers; she knew that Torchwood had also done some research into the GH325, but she simply didn’t have the access to their mainframe to get at it.  It wasn’t nearly everything, but Daisy knew exactly where the paper files were kept: in Coulson’s safe.

That was going to be the tricky part.  Daisy had never broken into a safe before, but she’d seen it, and knew it had a sophisticated computer lock, and there wasn’t a computer she couldn’t hack.

Okay, there was the Torchwood mainframe, but that computer was mostly sentient and only let people in she liked.  Mainframe _did_ like Daisy, but not enough to allow her access without permission, or letting someone know she was making the request.  It would have most likely been Toshiko, and there was no way she could explain what she was up to without giving the game away.

Shoving her laptop into her backpack and the flash drive into her pocket, Daisy headed toward Coulson’s office.

She was, quite frankly, terrified at what she was about to do.

The last thing Daisy wanted to do was to steal from the very person who’d given her a chance, and who’d forgiven her for past transgressions.  If there was one thing on this planet she hated more than Grant Ward’s smug face and the fact that her own mother had turned out to be a homicidal maniac, it was that expression that Coulson got when she managed to disappoint him in some way. 

But, at the same time, if what the Doctor had told her was true – and she didn’t doubt it, because there was just something about the man that had her trusting him almost as much as she trusted Phil Coulson – she would actually be helping Coulson in the future.  This would save his life, and there was nothing that meant more to her than her mentor’s safety and happiness. 

Hell, she’d been the one to give Clint Barton the shovel talk when she’d realised what was going on between the two of them, and she’d meant every threat she’d made.  She’d felt it was her duty, after all, as Coulson’s almost-but-not-quite daughter, to make sure he wasn’t hurt.  

If she got caught, it would be the end of the trust that had been built up between herself and Coulson, Daisy just knew it.  Because there was no way she could explain away stealing the TAHITI files without endangering the timelines…and future Coulson.  She would be stuck between a rock and a hard place if she was busted.

Well, that just meant she couldn’t get caught.

There were quite a few more SHIELD agents in the hallways these days, thanks to Coulson’s efforts and the fact that the Queen of England was on their side.  There had been some talk about moving the entire base to Great Britain, but the Director hadn’t decided to take that step…not yet, anyway.  However, everyone knew it was dangerous for them to stay in the US, as long as the government was treating SHIELD like they were the same as HYDRA.  It was getting a little better, but it was like having a sword hanging over their heads, even with the Avengers firmly in their corner…although that didn’t stand for much these days, not after Sokovia.

Now, that had been a mess.  To be honest, while she might have given Clint that speech about hurting Coulson, she did like the archer, and she’d never been so glad that he’d quit the Avengers after those Cybermen attacked New York.  She would have hated to have seen him involved in that Sokovia shit.

Several of the agents nodded at her as she walked by, and she acknowledged each of them even though she couldn’t have called any of them by name.  They knew her, though, and it was just a little bit embarrassing, really.  Daisy hadn’t really ever considered herself anything special, but she was beginning to believe she might be something more than a hacker who just happened to have gotten freaky superpowers because of a quirk of genetics and a weird, alien crystal.

At least, that was one of the many things Phil Coulson had taught her, about just how important she was and how she was a part of something much bigger than herself.  He’d given her a purpose beyond infiltrating SHIELD in order to find information about her parents. 

Sure, she wished now she hadn’t found out all that stuff about her biological Mom and Dad, but she wasn’t about to let it change who she was.  And, if she hadn’t done just that, she wouldn’t be where she was now.  There really wasn’t anywhere else she’d rather be.

Coulson’s door was closed, so she knocked to announce herself.  There was no answer, so Daisy tried the knob.

It was open, which meant that Coulson or his PA would be due back soon.  If the door had been locked, it would have meant he was off-base, and she knew from Trip that he wasn’t.

Daisy stepped into her bosses’ office.  It was very Coulson, with the obligatory vintage spy stuff, the smattering of Captain America memorabilia…and that bloody awful axe that was now hanging from the brick wall.  Why Coulson wanted to keep that thing, Daisy didn’t know, but it was faintly disturbing.  It reminded her of everything bad that had happened recently, and she didn’t really need any more nightmares.

It was even more disturbing than the fact that Coulson’s severed hand had grown back in a couple of weeks, because that was the sort of weirdness they dealt with around here and to be honest she hadn’t been all that shocked.  After all, the GH325 had grown back his _heart_.  A hand shouldn’t have been that big a deal to that alien crap.

She closed the door behind her, then made her way around to where Coulson’s safe was.  It had been inset into the cabinet just behind the enormous antique wooden desk that Daisy was positive had once belonged to Director Carter, only with updated hardware built into it, like a scanner for the Toolbox that Coulson would often consult.  It probably had other things hidden inside it as well, and she wasn’t ashamed to admit that she’d been curious enough to want to poke around it, if it wasn’t for the fact that she _really_ didn’t want to see Coulson’s disappointed face.  She’d had enough of that to last a lifetime.

Taking a deep breath, Daisy circled the desk and knelt beside the cabinet the safe was inside.  The door opened under her fingers, and the dark metal of the safe peeked out, the flashing of the computer lock beckoning to her.

To say that Daisy felt confident about getting in was a complete and total overstatement.  So many things could go wrong, and it would bring guards running if she screwed up.  The last thing she wanted to know was quake anyone, even if it meant she would get caught.  That would have tipped Coulson over into disapproval, which in a lot of ways was worse than disappointment.

Her heart was beating so hard Daisy was surprised it wasn’t echoing throughout the office. 

Daisy used every technique she could think of to centre herself, mentally thanking May for teaching her biofeedback and meditation. Once she was calmer and her hands were steady again, she touched the keypad tentatively, stroking the keys lightly.

Then, she took her personal tablet from her backpack.

Daisy had loaded the tablet up with software that, chances were, she shouldn’t have.  One of those programs was Fitz’s combination cracker, a nifty piece of code writing that could figure out the lock’s combination in no time.  It had been supplemented with some new code written by Toshiko, and if two geniuses couldn’t figure stuff like that out, then the world was on the slippery slope to the Apocalypse.

She’d originally added it to her tablet for field use.  She never would have guessed that, one day, she’d be using it to break into Coulson’s safe.

Just the _idea_ of breaking into Coulson’s safe was giving her a wicked case of the proverbial hives.

Still, the program did its job, and the light on the keypad turned green.  There was a soft ‘snikt’ as the lock disengaged, and the safe door cracked open.

Daisy let out the breath she didn’t even know she was holding.  Quite honestly, she was surprised the entire base wasn’t shaking, what with the state of her nerves.

She ignored the papers within the safe – although she couldn’t help but grin at the signed Captain America trading cards in their protective plastic coverings – and went for the large, grey binder that was propped up against one side of the safe.

Daisy had seen that binder exactly once: just after Coulson had figured things out, and Fitz and Simmons had been using it to work out exactly what had been done to him.  Simmons had even admitted that she only understood a little of the procedures, but Daisy was hoping the future might be different. 

The words _Level Ten Eyes Only_ stared up at her before she stuffed the large, bulky binder into her backpack.

Daisy closed the safe, making sure it was locked and that there weren’t any sort of digital fingerprints left behind.  Then she stood and went around to the front of the desk, practically jogging toward the closed office door.

Which opened just as she reached it.

It was all she could do to swallow down the squeak that she really wanted to make, and to keep the earthquake from shaking the building.

Coulson’s eyes met hers as he took his first step into the office, his gaze turning surprised and then pleased in equal measure.  “Skye,” he greeted her, then he mouthed a curse word.  “Sorry…Daisy.”

Daisy took a step back, in order to let him into his own office, trying to appear not at all guilty about being alone in the room.  “It’s fine,” she assured him, hiking the strap of the backpack higher onto her shoulder.  “I…know it’ll take some getting used to.”  To be honest, she still wasn’t exactly sure why she’d decided to take back her birth name.  Only that it was hers, and she deserved to have something that was wholly her own, and not something forced on her or picked by herself because it sounded pretty.

Coulson moved past her, and she stifled the sigh of relief that he apparently hadn’t noticed that she’d been up to no good.  “I hope you weren’t waiting long,” he spoke as he turned to face her. “After Trip reported in, Fitz and Simmons needed me for something…”

“No, not really,” Daisy hastened to say.  “I…did want to speak to you, though.  If you have a minute.”

He smiled.  “I do happen to have about _five_ minutes, but that’s about it.  I’m expecting a conference call with Torchwood in about that long.  What can I do for you?”  Then his smile dropped.  “Are you alright?  Trip said you were, but I’d understand if you really weren’t.”

“No!” she exclaimed.  Then, realising she was coming on just a bit too strong, she softened her voice.  “No, I’m fine.  Really.  In fact, it’s probably for the best that I don’t see my dad again, you know?  It’s gonna get a bit suspicious if I keep stalking him, and I don’t want to get arrested or anything.”

Coulson nodded.  “Yes, that’s probably for the best, although I know it’ll be hard for you.”

She shrugged, using the shoulder that didn’t have the backpack’s strap looped over it.  “Maybe, we’ll see.  But anyway…I was also wondering if I might have a few days off.  Just to get my head together, you know? With May gone, I know we’re just a tad short-handed…”  May had gone away with Andrew, her ex-husband, and Daisy hoped for the best with them.  Andrew was a pretty nice guy, once she’d gotten past the fact that he was a shrink.

“No, it’s fine,” he answered.  “In fact, that’s probably a good idea.  You’ve really been through it the last several weeks, and if anyone deserves a short vacation, it’s you.  Do you have any plans?”

“Well, I thought I might go and check in with Josh, and see how he’s integrating back into his team.” 

It was a spur of the moment excuse, but Daisy really should be looking in on her fellow Inhuman.  Josh Gates had gotten trapped with her and Raina in the underground city of the Inhumans, and he’d come out just as changed as Daisy had, only his had come with a physical component…although, she figured having to wear sunglasses all the time in order to hide his eyes wasn’t on par with Raina and the Sonic the Hedgehog look she’d received after their exposure to Terrigen.

She and Josh both had been ‘taken’ by Gordon and Jaiying, so at least they’d been able to help each other out a little, and she’d come to really like Torchwood’s resident historian and archaeologist.

“Then, maybe, I might take a trip out to Ddraig Llyn,” she went on.  “I’m sure Ianto’s already told them all out there that I’m fine, but I’m sure they’d love to see me in person.” 

She’d been at Ddraig Llyn when Gordon had come for her and Josh.  Ianto had thought maybe the Great Dragons would be able to help her, but the Inhuman powers she’d gotten hadn’t been magical at all.  Still, the Earth Dragon had taught her a few things about control before Gordon had shown up to sell the Afterlife Kool-Aid.

Ddraig Llyn was an awesome place.  Daisy could have lived there happily if she wasn’t already committed to Coulson and SHIELD.  And if she spoke Welsh.

Coulson was back to smiling.  “That sounds ideal.  Take a week, and come back recharged.  I don’t have a Quinjet heading to England, though…”

“Don’t worry about it,” she waved his concerns away.  “I don’t mind taking a commercial flight, and my powers are pretty much under control now to risk it.”  Actually, she wouldn’t be flying anywhere at all, if the Doctor’s handy-dandy teleport disc thing worked, but she wasn’t about to tell Coulson that.  And she figured being gone about a week would cover it in case something went wrong and she couldn’t get back right away.   “It’ll feel good to pretend to be a normal person for a little bit.  Even if it means putting up with crying babies and bad airplane food.”

That made Coulson snort, and Daisy turned to go. 

But then, she was turning back.  “You know, a vacation wouldn’t be a bad idea for you, too,” she said.  “You could see Clint…maybe get laid…”

“I didn’t think my sex life was all that interesting,” Coulson exclaimed.

“It’s not,” Daisy shrugged.  “Cause, you know…you’re old and all that, and old folks shouldn’t be having sex – “

“Get out!” he ordered, face stern but his eyes were laughing.  “And at least I’m getting some, unlike certain other agents I could name!”

Daisy couldn’t help the grin that made her cheeks hurt, it was just that wide.  “I’m going!” she cried, her own laughter making the words sound just a little breathless.  “And I just haven’t found the right person to bump uglies with yet!”

Coulson pointed emphatically toward the door, his glare at odds with the twitching of his lips in an attempt to hold back his own grin, and Daisy took the hint.

She was most of the way down the hallway before the weight of the stolen binder in her backpack brought her mood right back down again.

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

 

**_The TARDIS_ **

****

The teleportation thing _sucked_.

Daisy appeared in the TARDIS control room, where she promptly fell on her face as dizziness hit her like a brick to the skull.  Her backpack slammed into her back, knocking the wind out of her, and she cursed breathlessly as she tried to roll over.

The Doctor was there, and helped her to her feet.

“People do that all the time in the future?” she groused, rubbing her chin where it had collided with the floor. 

“Not with those, really,” the Doctor admitted.  “But you also had to teleport onto the TARDIS, and the shielding usually doesn’t like that sort of thing.  I had to make a hole for you to fit through.  Kinda like fitting an elephant through the eye of a needle, really.”

“Are you saying I’m fat?” Daisy demanded, putting her hands on her hips.

The Doctor’s eyes widened comically, and he took a hasty step backward, raising his hands in surrender.  “I wouldn’t say that!  Nope, I know better than to insult a lady’s weight.  My wife would definitely have something to say about that!”

Daisy couldn’t help but laugh at his absolutely scandalised expression.  “The look on your face…”

“Ha. Ha.”  The Doctor glared at her.  “Did you get it all?”

The hilarity left Daisy in a rush at the question.  She picked up her backpack from where it had fallen to the floor.  “It’s all in here, but most of it isn’t digitalised.  Coulson might notice sooner or later that it’s missing, so we better get a move on.”

“Well, this is a time machine,” the Doctor reminded her.  “I can have you back five minutes before you even left.”

With those words, he darted toward the controls, moving around the console in a pattern that Daisy simply couldn’t identify, pushing buttons, turning dials, and moving levers.

The whatever it was inside the large, clear pillar at the centre of the console began to move, and a noise echoed through the room, almost sounding as if someone was torturing a cat.

“You might want to hold on,” the Doctor warned, “the trip could be a little bumpy.”

Daisy took refuge on one of the seats and out of the way, as the TARDIS began to move.

The little kid in her was screaming at the very notion that she was now _travelling in time_.

When had her life become this?  It hadn’t been that long ago that she’d been living out of her van, preaching the Rising Tide agenda and hacking into anything she could get her digital hands on.

“Just how much of the future should I know about?” she asked curiously.

“Well, that depends on a lot of things,” the Doctor answered.  “I shouldn’t really show you that much about Phillip’s life; you might give something away.  But some of it should be fine.  I don’t want to leave until we figure out if this will help Phillip, but after that…you’ll get that one trip.”  He looked like he was considering a few things.  “I could take you to Barcelona…not the city, but the planet…no, I get the feeling that might be just a bit tame for your tastes.”

“I wouldn’t mind tame,” she offered.  “Things have been crazy lately, so relaxing might be good.”

She hadn’t thought about another planet…time travel would have been good enough.  So, the TARDIS was also a spaceship, which was all sorts of cool. 

“No no no no no!  I want to make your trip into the future fun!  I’m sure I’ll come up with something once we get this information to Phillip…”

“Why do you call him Phillip?” she asked curiously.  She’d never heard anyone call Coulson that; the closest was when May called him Phil.

“That’s his name,” the Doctor scoffed lightly. 

Daisy rolled her eyes at him.  “Duh!  But no one calls him Phillip, not even Clint or May.”

The Doctor frowned.  “Colonel Fury said the same thing…”  He shook his head.  “Well, he goes by Phillip now; not sure when he decided to, really.”  He made his way around the control console again, flipping more switches.  “And…” there was a chime, and the TARDIS settled.  “We’re here.  Fancy seeing the 52nd century?”

“You’re kidding, right?” 

She swept up her backpack, and then waited for the Doctor to finish what he was doing.  She was in the future!  Never in her wildest dreams had she ever even _considered_ being able to time travel. Sure, she was there to help Coulson, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy it!

Excitement was making her jittery as the Doctor moved past her, toward the doors.  Daisy crowded up behind him as she flung open the door and stepped out.  Daisy followed…

And found herself on her very first alien planet.

It was obvious.  For one thing, the sun was a completely different colour; it was red, tinting everything in the same shade.  Daisy looked up, and the sky itself was almost purple, with brass coloured clouds scudding overhead. 

She found herself in an open plaza, large buildings surrounding the area.  Just beyond, there was a busy street, with cars that weren’t like anything that Daisy had ever seen.  For one thing, they barely made any noise, and they were all different shapes and sizes.  As she watched, one of them actually lifted off the road and took to the air, reminding her of Lola and how the vintage Corvette could fly. 

It made her wonder if, somehow, Coulson had managed to keep Lola after so long.  She hoped so.

And then, there were the people.  All sorts of people.

Some looked perfectly human.  Others, not so much. She found herself gawking, but she couldn’t help it.  Of course, she’d heard of alien races out there; she’d seen the Daleks, back when they’d stolen the Earth, before she’d even thought about joining the Rising Tide…in fact, it had been that incident that had instigated her meeting Miles and getting into the whole hacktivist movement. 

When she got into SHIELD, her entire world had opened up in ways she could never have imagined.  Then came Torchwood, and meeting Ianto, an honest-to-God dragon, and Jack, an actual immortal alien from the future.  She’d seen Weevils, and Asgardians, and Kree, and Zygons, and not to forget the Great Dragons…but this…this was something completely different.  She was literally surrounded by aliens, none of them the least bit familiar to her.

It was like a dream, and at some point she was going to wake up.  Daisy pinched herself just to make sure she wasn’t really sleeping.

Nope, that hurt.

“Welcome to Hubworld,” the Doctor announced.  “The star we’re in orbit around is known in your time as Gliese 581, and the official designation of this planet is Gliese 581g, although that got renamed as soon as the terraforming was complete.”

“You said this was the 52nd century?”  Daisy’s mind was boggling at everything she was seeing, and it was all she could do not to make excited noises.

“Earth Standard Year 5192,” the Doctor answered, “the 10th of September, to be precise.  The human race is at the centre of a great Empire that stretches across the expanse of twelve galaxies, and about to get footholds in a thirteenth.  I just love humanity!” 

He headed across the plaza toward one of the taller buildings.  It was all glass and steel and stone, rising up into the red sky and towering over everything else that Daisy could see.  The Doctor strode right up to the doors, and it wasn’t until he was ushering her inside that she noticed the stylised ‘T’ on the glass, surrounded by a dragon.

“Is this…?” she squeaked.

“Torchwood,” the Doctor confirmed, bustling in behind her.

Once the door was closed, the red light from the sun was cut off, and everything looked to be in the normal spectrum now.  Which was a good thing, because Daisy wasn’t so sure she could handle all that weird sunlight for long, although if she lived there she was certain she’d be able to get used to it eventually.

The lobby was enormous.  It was several storeys high, with at least two floors open to it above them.  There were plants dotted around the place, as well as a single wall that looked like it might have been Torchwood’s version of the Wall of Valour; Daisy was too far away to read any of the names that had been carved into it.

“The Torchwood Institute is quite a power in the Human Empire,” the Doctor lectured as they walked across the large, open foyer toward what looked like a receptionist desk.  “They’ve done a lot of good for a lot of people.”

There was an alien behind the reception desk.

Daisy wanted to squee.

She really wished Fitz and Simmons could be seeing this.  They’d be just as jazzed about it as she was.

“Good morning,” the Doctor greeted the receptionist.  If Daisy wasn’t mistaken, the being looked like some sort of lizard, only with a third eye in the middle of its forehead.  “Can you let someone know that the Doctor is here with Daisy Johnson?”

The receptionist smiled, revealing sharp teeth, but Daisy didn’t feel at all uncomfortable at the display.  “Welcome back, Doctor.  I’ll be glad to let someone know that you’ve arrived.”  The alien’s voice was sibilant, but perfectly understandable, and while Daisy didn’t want to make assumptions she thought the tone was male.

The receptionist touched a headset that was cupped to the side of his head, and then spoke, “The Doctor is here with a Ms Daisy Johnson…yes sir, I’ll inform them you’re on the way down.”  Those three eyes met the Doctor’s two, the upper one blinking out of synch with the others, and the reptile said, “Second Jones is coming down now.”

The Doctor thanked the receptionist, and stepped away from the desk, taking Daisy with him.  However, she barely registered the movement as she realised what the alien had said.  “Second Jones?” she gasped.  “Is it Ianto?”

“It is,” the Doctor confirmed.  “He and Jack have actually retired, but they’re around until we can get Phillip settled.  Ianto’s an instructor at Luna University, and Jack is a consultant for Torchwood.  But, they aren’t about to leave Torchwood without its current Director.”

Daisy was confused.  “Then who’s the Director?”

The Doctor looked at her as if she should have guessed.  “Why, it’s Phillip, of course.”

She suddenly wanted to sit down.

“What happened to SHIELD?” she demanded.  Daisy just couldn’t see her Coulson not still being with SHIELD…unless SHIELD wasn’t around anymore. 

“Oh, SHIELD still exists, only in a different form.  Nice young man runs it now…a direct descendent of Captain America, I believe.  But Phillip came over to Torchwood about ninety years ago, when Arthur and Merlin finally retired.”  Then he grinned.  “Merlin’s my son, by the way.”

Well, the Doctor had claimed he had a son, who was married to Jack and Ianto’s grandson…which had to be this Arthur person.  But Arthur and Merlin?  That was just asking for them both to be teased, unless no one in this time remembered the legends of King Arthur and his court Wizard, Merlin.

And Coulson must have pissed himself, having worked with the actual descendent of Captain America!  She knew how he was about the real thing, after all, depsite all that stuff about bringing SHIELD down.

Daisy caught movement out of the corner of her, and she turned toward it, grinning from ear-to-ear as she saw who was approaching them from deeper within the building.

Ianto Jones hadn’t changed a bit.  He still looked perfectly human, and she thought what he was wearing must have been a future version of the suits she’d always seen him in.  He was smiling as he came toward them, and before Daisy had even realised it, she’d run forward and thrown her arms around him in a massive hug.

Ianto returned the hug.  “Oh, I have missed you,” he murmured into her hair. 

“I just talked to you two days ago,” she couldn’t help but sniff a little.  Daisy was unbelievably happy to see her friend still alive and kicking, even though, intellectually, she’d known that dragons were immortal and he would be around for a very long time, barring catastrophic injury. 

“It’s been over three thousand years for me,” Ianto chuckled, pulling away slightly.  “So please forgive me if I hug you at random intervals.”

“Nothing to forgive for that.”  She felt happily warm at the sentiment.

Ianto pulled away a little more, but kept his hands on his shoulders.  “You know we would never have asked this of you if it weren’t important.”

Daisy nodded.  “The Doctor explained it to me.  Not that I understood all of it, but enough to know it’s Coulson’s life on the line.”  She met his eyes; even though he was now so much older than when she’d last seen him, for some reason the expression in them seemed just a little younger; a little lighter.  It seemed that his life in the future really was a good one.  “Can I see him?”

She was a little afraid he’d say no, but at the same time Daisy really felt like she needed to see with her own eyes that Coulson was still around.  Sure, the Doctor had said so, and Ianto was there, saying the same, but it was different getting visual confirmation.

Ianto nodded, smiling sympathetically, as if he could somehow read her thoughts.  “I have to warn you…he won’t look like you remember him.  The magic overload…we’re keeping it under control as much as we can, but he’s…changed.”

Daisy swallowed.  “Okay, I understand.”  A part of her was really scared, but it was outweighed by her need to help.

Coulson had supported her.  He hadn’t turned away when she’d gained these freaky powers, and in fact he’d tried to find help for her.  He’d been as close to a father as she’d ever had…until her crazy-ass biological dad had showed up on the scene.  He meant a lot to her, had done a lot for her, and this was her chance to do the same for him.

She dug around in her backpack for the TAHITI binder, and then handed over the flash drive with the information she’d dug up from SHIELD’s servers.  “This is all I could find,” she said.  “I hope it helps.”

Ianto accepted both with another smile.  “I’m sure it will. Thank you so much for this.”  He tucked the binder under his arm and tucked the little Darth Vader drive into his own pocket after giving it a raised and amused eyebrow.  “Let’s go and see Phillip, shall we?”

The dragon led Daisy and the Doctor through the lobby of the building, toward a bank of elevators.  She had to marvel at how far Torchwood had come; thinking back on the Hub and the warehouse slash headquarters in London, it seemed amazing that the organisation that had once been so secretive now seemed to have an entire planet to themselves, if what the Doctor had said was true.  The name, Hubworld, was kinda a big giveaway though.

“Torchwood’s come a long way since your hole in the ground,” she teased as they stepped into the elevator that seemed to have been waiting for them.

Ianto laughed.  “No more hiding for us,” he answered.  “Torchwood’s an actual superpower in the Empire.  We even have a representative on the Imperial Council.”

The elevator shot upward with a smooth motion that had Daisy’s stomach swooping in response.  “And SHIELD?  The Doctor says it’s still out there, only different…”

“It is,” Ianto confirmed, glancing toward the Doctor with a raised eyebrow, “I’m not sure I should be handing out that sort of spoiler.”

What?  “Oh my god… you still use that word in the future?”  Daisy exclaimed incredulously.

“Blame the Doctor.  He uses it often enough.”

“Oi!” the Doctor exclaimed, sounding put upon, but that was negated by his sudden burst of laughter.  “I am not that bad!”

“You are _exactly_ that bad,” Ianto returned, his eyes sparkling with humour.  “And your son can be just as bad, but at least he comes by it naturally.”

“I shall be offended on Merlin’s behalf,” the Doctor said primly.

“But not on your own?”

Daisy laughed at the teasing.  It was good to see that things in the future were just as crazy as they were in her own time.

The doors slid open, revealing a floor that was lined with glassed-in labs and cubicles, scientists in lab coats with the Torchwood logo – and she wanted to ask just when they decided to add the dragon to the familiar Torchwood ‘T’ – on them, working within.  Ianto left the elevator, and Daisy and the Doctor followed.  “We were keeping him on the medical floor,” the dragon explained, “but he was putting out too much cold for the environmental systems in any room he was in to cope, and it was bleeding out into other rooms.  Phillip’s core body temperature is running at well below survival levels, and the GH325 is being overwhelmed.  Like I said, we have the magic partially disrupted, so it could be so much worse.”

What Ianto _wasn’t_ saying was that they didn’t have a lot of time left to save Coulson before his body couldn’t take it any longer. 

“We moved him to an environmentally controlled lab here on the science floor,” Ianto continued. “It’s not all that comfortable for him, but at the same time it’s the best we can do.”

He sounded apologetic, but Daisy didn’t think he had anything to apologise for.  They were doing the best they could, she had confidence that, and with all the futuristic gear she was catching sight of in the labs they were passing they’d be able to work things out.

The labs changed from the totally glassed-in walls, to what looked like clean rooms, with airlocks closed and sealed going into them.  They still had large windows, and Daisy could see people in hazmat suits working within. 

Well, at least she recognised them as hazmat suits.  That much hadn’t changed.

Ianto stopped in front of one of the airlocked rooms.  Through the window, Daisy could see it had been set up as a bedroom of sorts, with a bunk, a chair, and a table with what looked like some sort of tablet on it. 

There was ice encrusting everything.

In the chair, sat Phillip Coulson.

Only, Ianto had been right about him being different.

Coulson’s skin was white, almost translucent, blue veins visible in his temples and throat.  His eyes were like twin crystals in their sockets, golden circles around the slightly darker irises, his hair and clothes grey with frost. 

But it was Coulson. 

He stood as he caught sight of them at the window, smiling as his eyes fell on Daisy.  Coulson walked toward the window.  “It’s really good to see you again,” he greeted, his voice coming through a speaker at about waist height.

Daisy wanted to cry at seeing her friend and mentor – and face it, more of a dad than her own dad had been – in such shape, but she gave him a smile instead.  “I’d say the same, but since I just saw you less than an hour ago…”

Coulson laughed at that.  “Well, it’s been a bit longer for me, I’m afraid.”

“I’m going to take this up to…the lab,” Ianto said, indicating the binder.  Daisy noticed the hesitation in his words, but didn’t comment on it.  “Doctor, you want to come with me?”

At first, Daisy thought the Doctor was going to argue, but he ended up simply nodding and following Ianto back down the hallway, leaving Daisy alone with her former boss.

Wait, was it really former anything?  Time travel sucked sometimes.

But in a lot of other ways, it was freaking awesome.

“So,” Coulson began, “how do you like the future so far?”

“Haven’t really seen much of it, although…damn, I’m on another flipping planet in the future.  I’m still waiting to wake up.”

“I’d invite you in, but as you can see…” Coulson waved a hand down himself, a small, self-deprecating smile on his face.  “I’d hate for you to get frostbite.”

Daisy’s heart was aching at seeing him like this.  She rested one hand on the glass separating them; it was cold against her palm and it stung her skin, but she didn’t remove it.  “They’ll figure it out.”

Coulson did the same, fitting his much larger hand against the barrier between them, and when the sleeve of his shirt fell away Daisy could see a form-fitting black cuff around his wrist.  He saw her glance at it, and he said, “It’s an anti-magic metal.  Before this…happened, it was able to completely knock out my magic.  But now…it’s not working nearly as well.  However, it gives us time to figure out what to do.  The information you brought will help.”

“You know, when the Doctor told me about you, what the GH325 had done…” Daisy looked away, not wanting Coulson to see how badly she was affected by seeing him, in that room, all alone and in obvious distress.  “I was scared, thinking about you being all alone.  I mean, sure…I knew you had Ianto, and Jack, but you wouldn’t have anyone to share your life with like they had each other…”

“But I do,” he reassured her.  “I’m actually mated…to Jack and Ianto’s eldest son.”

Daisy’s mouth dropped open.  “So you’re like…their son-in-law?”

“Well, the dragon term is son-by-mating, but yes.”

“But…how is that possible?  Did they adopt?  I thought Ianto was the last of the dragons!”

“That is a very long story, but if you have some time…”

“Are you kidding? Of course I want to know all about it!”  She paused.  “But can you tell me?  What about me knowing the future and all that?”

“I can’t give you a lot of detail, but I do trust you to keep what I do tell you all to yourself.”  His face turned serious.  “Daisy…human beings aren’t meant to be immortal, so we have a tendency to lose a lot of our earlier memories.  But, I remember trusting you.  I might not recall a lot, but I do recall _that_.  And I’ve had a lot of help lately with all those old memories, and things have come back to me.  It’s why I told the Doctor to go to you.  I knew you could get what we needed to fix this.”

Daisy was touched by his words, warmth growing in her chest at the trust he had in her.  “But what about May?  You and she are pretty tight.  She would’ve been more than happy to help.  Or Clint?  You know he’d do anything for you.”

Something shifted in his expression.  “I can’t explain it, but there are…circumstances that precluded me from having the Doctor approach them.  Besides, you were really the best alternative.  I knew you’d be able to get what we needed.”

Daisy wondered just what those circumstances were, but decided not to ask despite her curiosity digging at her, since she was positive Coulson wouldn’t tell her even if she trotted out the puppy eyes.  “So, tell me about this mate of yours?”

The smile she got at that was heart-warming, and Daisy finally felt at peace about Coulson and his life.

So, she listened to him as he spoke about his family, and saw how his face lit up as he described what he could of his life in the future.

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

 

**_10 September 5192 (Earth Standard Date)_ **

**_Gliese 581g_ **

**_Hubworld_ **

****

Daisy didn’t know how long she stood outside Coulson’s room, but she was enjoying herself.

Sure, Coulson couldn’t tell her everything, and he certainly hadn’t mentioned the names of his mate and his family – three kids and one on the way! And she didn’t want to get into male pregnancy in the future! – but she still loved hearing everything that Coulson had to say.  She could also tell that he was equally happy sharing with her what he could, as they waited to see if the scientists could work with the information she’d stolen from the very man she was keeping company.

Daisy wondered if the reason Coulson was alone now was because his family needed to stay away while she was there.  It made her feel guilty about it, honestly, and a part of her thought she should probably locate the Doctor and ask for her trip now.

But she couldn’t.

For one thing, she had no idea where he was.  He could be anywhere in the building, and Daisy didn’t have clearance to go anywhere else but where she was.  She could go asking, but what if she stumbled into something she shouldn’t?  Not that Torchwood would kill her or anything, but Daisy knew for a fact that, back in her time, they’d had that fancy amnesia drug, and the one thing she wanted more than anything was to remember this trip.  It didn’t matter that she’d have to keep all this secret; she worked for SHIELD, after all, and was completely fine with hiding stuff others didn’t need to know, although lying to her team rankled more than a little.  The last thing she wanted to do was to forget, and sticking her nose in where it didn’t belong was the fast way of losing everything she’d seen so far.

And another thing, she needed to see this through.  She was there because she wanted to help, but the only thing she’d been able to do so far was a bit of breaking and entering.  If she could be there for him, she would, remembering the times he’d been there for her.

It might have been a little selfish of her, but Daisy couldn’t help it.

It didn’t hurt that Coulson seemed to really want her there.  He was genuinely glad of her presence.  And, for that, she was incredibly grateful.  It didn’t matter that he’d had other reasons not to have the Doctor approach anyone else; Coulson had suggested her for the Doctor to come to, and that meant a lot to her.

Coulson was telling her a story about a mission he’d overseen when there was a polite throat clearing from behind Daisy.  She turned, and took a step back in shock as she found a Kree standing there, wearing tactical gear with the Torchwood logo on it.

He was tall, blue, built like a brick shit-house, and highly intimidating, and it was all Daisy could do to rein in her power. 

The last time she’d seen a Kree was when Vin-Tak, the Kree warrior, had come to Earth to investigate the activation of one of the Diviners.  The Kree had thought the Inhumans a failed experiment, and it had taken her team and Lady Sif of Asgard to stop him from destroying her.

To say she didn’t care at all for the Kree was an understatement.

Still, she managed not to create an earthquake, which she was very proud of.

“Director Coulson,” the Kree said.  He voice was deep and sonorous, and very respectful. “I am sorry to interrupt…”

“Yes, Commander Mar-Von?”  Then Coulson started.   “Oh, let me introduce you to a dear friend from the past, Daisy Johnson.  Daisy, this is Commander Mar-Von; he’s with security for Torchwood Tower.”

The commander inclined his head in Daisy’s direction.  “Welcome to Torchwood, Ms Johnson.”

For being so freaked out at seeing a Kree, Daisy was actually just a bit charmed by the large soldier.  “Thanks, Commander Mar-Von.”

“Director,” the Kree turned back to Coulson, and it was odd to know that, while the title had remained the same, it was for a completely different organisation, “I wished to see how you were faring.”

Coulson smiled slightly.  “As well as I can be, Commander.  They’re working on a solution now, so hopefully I’ll back on duty soon.”

Dark eyes darted in Daisy’s direction, then went back to Coulson.  “I am aware.  The…scientists requested a blood sample from me, for testing.”

At that, Coulson flinched.  It was a small movement, and Daisy might not have seen it at all if it hadn’t registered with her power.  The thing about being able to control all sorts of vibrations was that she could feel them when they happened around her.

“They explained to me why they needed the sample,” Mar-Von continued.  He sounded almost… disappointed, and Daisy felt her stomach lurch.

“I…would have told you,” Coulson admitted, “but your government specifically said that such knowledge couldn’t get out.  It would possibly damage the treaty we were working on.”

Daisy wanted to ask what this treaty was.  Apparently, the Kree and humans were friends now, which was a good thing, but what the SSR, and then SHIELD, had done to that Kree body hadn’t been good.  She could certainly understand why that sort of thing wasn’t anything anybody wanted to have shared.

Slowly, and hopefully unobtrusively, Daisy edged herself between Coulson and Mar-Von.  Yes, she knew Coulson wasn’t defenceless, but that didn’t matter.  She cared about him, and would always try to do her best to protect him, even this far into the future when he really didn’t need her any longer.

Now, that thought hurt, and for the first time since setting foot onto Hubworld it really hit home to her that she was dead, and had been for thousands of years.  A small shiver went up her spine at that thought, but she did her best to ignore it.

Mar-Von noticed, however, and he gave her a knowing look.  “I have no intention of doing anything, Ms Johnson.  In point of fact, I merely wished to apologise to the Director for my peoples’ part in what occurred on his homeworld.”

Okay, _that_ was completely unexpected.

“I know the history of things, now,” Mar-Von went on.  “I know that my people… _meddled_ , with Earth.  If they had not taken it upon themselves to do what they had, then there would not have been one of my race left behind.  And, even though this…experimentation…was done, it was not done with Director Coulson’s permission. Am I correct in that?”

“You are,” Coulson admitted.  “In fact, I still have nightmares about asking to die.”

“Then this abomination is not of your doing.”  Mar-Von stood even straighter, which Daisy hadn’t thought was possible.  “You are my Director, and it is my honour to serve here at Torchwood.  Nothing will change that.  I simply wished for you to be aware of it.”

Okay, maybe Daisy needed to rethink the whole “Kree are assholes” notions she’d come away with when one had tried to kill her. 

Coulson relaxed minutely.  “I thank you for your service, Commander Mar-Von.  You are a credit to your people.”

That earned Coulson an actual bow, and then Mar-Von was gone in a swirl of black battle armour.  “Well,” he said, once Mar-Von had vanished down the hallway, “that was certainly…enlightening.”

“Was that Commander Mar-Von I just passed in the hallway?” the Doctor asked, appearing suddenly and startling Daisy.

“Don’t do that!” she scolded.

The Doctor looked confused.  “Don’t do what?”

Daisy sighed.  “Oh, never mind.” She might have just met him, but she figured it wouldn’t do all that good to repeat herself.

“Do they have everything they need?” Coulson asked, in a very blatant attempt at bringing the Doctor’s attention to him.

Daisy wanted to know who ‘they’ were, but decided she wouldn’t get the answers even if she did ask.

“Yes, they believe so.  Which is why I’m here.”  He turned to Daisy.  “I was thinking, while we wait, that this would be a good time to give you that trip I promised you.”

Daisy was about to argue when the Doctor put a hand up to stop her.

“We’ll stay in this time zone,” he promised.  “That way we can be contacted when the science boffins know anything.”

“You should go to Euros,” Coulson suggested.  “It’s their Festival of the Masks.”

“Oh yes!” the Doctor enthused, glancing at Daisy and grinning like a madman.  “It’s like Earth’s Mardi Gras, only planet-wide and the Eurosians invite people from all over the Twelve Galaxies.”

Daisy narrowed her eyes suspiciously, as a thought came to her.  “You’re trying to get rid of me.”

The Doctor shook his head in denial, and then the gesture changed to a nod that was so vigorous Daisy was surprised he didn’t get whiplash.  “There’s nothing you can do, and there are things you shouldn’t see.  So yes, taking you to Euros is now the plan.”

“Starshine is playing,” Coulson added. 

That had the Doctor bouncing on the balls of his feet.  “Excellent!  I haven’t been to a concert in ages!”

“Starshine is some sort of musical group?” Daisy asked, trying very hard not to be left behind in their conversation.  She was a bit irritated that they were trying to send her off when she could be keeping Coulson company, but she did understand why.  And, she had wanted to have one trip as a reward for getting that information on TAHITI.  Not that she wouldn’t have done it anyway, but she was always willing to accept bribes or make half-assed attempts at blackmail.

“Morgan and her band,” Coulson explained.  “Morgan is one of Jack and Ianto’s children.”

So, another of these Jack and Ianto children.  And she was a singer?  That made sense, considering what little she knew about dragon culture and their love of music.  Ianto – the younger version – had actually sung to her when she’d seen him at Ddraig Llyn, back when she’d been trying to get a handle on her powers.  He’d had an amazing singing voice, so she could certainly understand that talent being passed down to one of his kids.

“Starshine is one of the top bands in the Empire,” the Doctor added eagerly.  “Jack and Ianto are quite proud.”  Then he paused.  “Is Nathan still playing roadie for them?”

Coulson nodded.  “He is.  He wanted to come back as soon as he heard about what happened, but…my mate convinced him to stay with the tour.”

Okay, it looked like Daisy wasn’t going to get the name of Coulson’s mate, and she had to wonder why.  What was so bad about her knowing who it was?  Maybe he was somehow a little bothered by having a mate when he’d been so close to Clint Barton in the past?  Surely, he would’ve realised that Clint wouldn’t have minded Coulson moving on after so long…

“Besides,” Coulson went on, “you might get word faster if you can get into the group.  I can let them know you’re coming, and someone could meet you.  The venue’s near Freedom Square, in Euros’ capitol city.”

“Excellent!” The Doctor rubbed his hands together gleefully.  “Have someone meet us at there, then.  Instead of taking the TARDIS, we can use the transmat.”  Then he frowned.  “Is Euros on the transmat network?”

“It is.”

“Wait,” Daisy interrupted, “what’s the transmat?”

“Matter transmission,” the Doctor answered brightly.  “The transmat network links many of the planets in the Empire, even though the majority of people go by spaceship.  Transmatting is faster, but with faster than light travel it’s more enjoyable to travel the long way.  Besides, travel by transmat can be somewhat jarring for a lot of people.”

Daisy could understand that.  She figured it was like driving to a destination instead of flying: on a spaceship, at least you could see where you’re going. 

“Kinda like the transporters on ‘Star Trek’ then?”

The Doctor made a face.  It was obvious he didn’t think much of the notion, and Coulson laughed at his obvious disgust.

She was really looking forward to seeing another alien world.  Yes, she was still really worried about Coulson, but both he and the Doctor were right: there really wasn’t anything she could do at the moment.  Plus, she really did suspect that she was the reason Coulson’s family weren’t visiting.

So, it was for the best that she take a step back.  And, if Coulson was suggesting she visit this Euros place, then it must be worth it.  She trusted him, as much as he’d trusted her to commit an act of theft in order to help save his life.

“Alright,” she cut in, grinning, “I guess we’re going to Euros.”

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

 

**_10 September 5192 (Earth Standard Date)_ **

**_Euros_ **

****

Travelling by transmat wasn’t so bad, but it did leave Daisy with a bit of an upset stomach.  Nothing major, but just enough to put her in mind of this one particular diner back in LA, before SHIELD and HYDRA and the Inhumans had all ganged up to make her life far more interesting than hacking for the Rising Tide had ever dreamed of being.  She’d only eaten there once, and she couldn’t really prove that the hamburger she’d wolfed down had been the culprit, but she hadn’t been about to take chances.  She’d hated it when her van had smelled like puke.

The first thing she noticed – outside of the vague sea-sickness of travelling by having her molecules scrambled and shot out across several galaxies – was that the gravity was a bit weird.  Daisy felt a little lighter than normal as she moved off the transmat platform and out into the station beyond. 

The second was, of course, the masks.

Everyone was wearing them.  She reached out and touched the filigreed metal of the mask she’d chosen before leaving Hubworld, glad that she’d been talked into taking one.  A really nice kid named Lisa had taken her aside and explained that she’d need at least the mask if she was going to go to Euros. It was considered the height of crassness not to have one for the Festival, and she’d been more than happy to follow Lisa, who was obviously an employee of Torchwood from the suit she’d had on, as she’d taken Daisy to get outfitted with a mask that would help her fit into the spirit of the Festival.

She’d chosen one that was all twisted and shaped metal.  It was tinted in shades of green, and looked far too delicate to stand up to a slight breeze, let alone something that was going to be like some sort of alien version of Fat Tuesday.  But Lisa had assured her that the metal was actually a super-strong alloy, and the matching ribbon that tied around her head was a plastic polymer than only felt like fabric.

The mask had resembled abstract leaves, and Daisy had immediately coveted it with a passion that she’d only ever felt toward her laptop and her van.  She wondered if she’d be able to smuggle it back home with her.

She also let Lisa talk her into the green jumpsuit.  It reminded Daisy of her SHIELD uniform: leather and spandex and it fit like a second skin, and boots with heels that should have been uncomfortable but weren’t.  It matched the mask perfectly, and Daisy did wonder if she looked like some sort of ambulatory shrub, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.  When she’d put her gauntlets on over the long, thin sleeves, the burnished metal looked as if it had been part of the costume all along. 

Not that she thought he’d need to use her powers at this Festival thing, but she couldn’t pass up the fact that they just looked really cool. 

The Doctor himself hadn’t changed clothes…okay, so he changed his bow tie, this one an almost neon pink, which matched the pink and white checkerboard pattern of the mask he’d managed to scrounge up.  It had an enormous pink peacock feature attached to it, and it kept getting tangled up in his floppy hair.  Daisy barely kept herself from laughing about it.

A part of her wondered if this was some sort of cheat.  The Doctor had promised her a trip to the future, and while they’d come forward in order to help Coulson, Daisy had thought he’d be taking her somewhere in his awesome time machine. 

Still, she was about to see some sort of alien party, and that had sounded freaking _awesome_.

There was someone waiting for them as they stepped off the transmat together.

It was a young man dressed entirely in blue.  In fact, he looked like Daisy thought Robin Hood would have, if he’d been into any other colour besides green, including flipping tights and a hat that was perched jauntily on his head of black hair.  It brought to mind that time she, Fitz, Simmons, and Mack had all watched Errol Flynn being all rob-from-the-rich to give-to-the-poor and dumping dead deer on a table straight from the Renaissance Faire recreation of a Medieval banquet and eyeing up Olivia deHavilland. 

There was even a bow, a quiver, and a sword.  Not what Daisy expected to see in the 52nd century.

The only addition to the ensemble was the mask that hid the upper half of his face, blue eyes watching as she and the Doctor approached.  A smile graced his visible features as the Doctor called out, “I didn’t expect to see you here!”

“I wouldn’t be,” the young man answered.  He had a nice voice, with an American accent. “But I’d already made a commitment with my group to come, and you know how Dad is about keeping your word.”

His gaze met hers, and he nodded.  “I was asked to come and meet you, Doctor, and your new companion…”  He paused, waiting for the introduction that Daisy wasn’t sure the Doctor was going to make.

But, finally, after glancing between the pair of them, the Doctor started, as if he’d finally gotten his manners back.  “Skylar…Daisy.  Daisy…Skylar. I promised Daisy a trip in repayment for her help with Phillip.”

That comment earned her a sharp expression that was just enough hidden enough behind the mask that Daisy couldn’t identify it. 

Still, he held his hand out to her.  “Nice to meet you, Daisy.”

She accepted the handshake, surprised at the warmth of his touch.  It was almost like shaking hands with Ianto, and Daisy wondered if he was some sort of alien that only looked human.

She returned his greeting.  

“Come on,” Skylar replied.  “Aunt Morgan’s expecting you.  She would have been here, herself, but there’s that whole being famous thing, even _if_ she was wearing a mask. It was just easier for me to come in her place.”

With that, Skylar led them out of the transmat station and into the crowds of festival goers that thronged the streets of Euros. 

Daisy didn’t even have the chance to consider Skylar calling Morgan ‘Aunt’ before she was completely overwhelmed.  Culture shock didn’t even come close to how she was feeling.

Sure, she’d seen a lot of aliens on Hubworld.  But this…the sheer number of different races swirling about them took her breath away.  There were all sorts of colours, and body shapes, and there was a pod of red dolphins that were swimming through mid-air, surrounded with what looked like some sort of bubble that held actual water.  There were several walking starfish, a couple who resembled bi-pedal lions, ambulatory trees, several types of aliens with more than two arms or legs or a combination of all of the above, and each and every one of them wore a mask and some sort of outlandish outfit.  She wanted to know them all, but that wasn’t possible; instead, she trailed along behind the Doctor and their guide, ogling at them all as they passed.

It was only a bit later that she noticed her actual surroundings.

For one thing, what she thought was the sky, was actually _the sun_.

It was an odd reddish-brown, and it completely filled the sky to the horizon.  Being this close, Daisy would’ve thought they’d be burning up, but instead the air was a bit chill, and she was glad that she’d changed clothes; her jeans and t-shirt wouldn’t have been nearly enough. 

“How can the sun be so close like that?” she blurted, although even as she said it she wondered if the Doctor could even hear her over the noise of the partying crowd.

He must have, though, because he turned around to grin at her, actually walking backward without managing to stumble into anyone.  “Euros is in orbit around a dwarf star,” he explained, loud enough to reach her.  “The entire planet is tidally locked – meaning that only one side of the planet ever faces the primary – “

 “But what about gravity?” she demanded.  “Isn’t gravity all about things spinning?”  She wasn’t a scientist but she did know _that_.

She stopped walking then, because seeing the Doctor not avoiding anyone as he strolled like that seemed freaking impossible.

Not as impossible as the planet she seemed to be on, but still…

The Doctor took the hint, and he waved a hand at her as his explanation continued.  “Usually yes, but there are certain circumstances…it’s all spatial mathematics and magnetic fields.  Anyway, that star is really dim and small and cold, so Euros has to be really close to it in order to be habitable…which means a year here is about twelve Earth days long, give or take a few minutes.”

“Whoa,” was about the only thing she could say to that.

“I could share the gravitational computations that allow things to work here, but you wouldn’t understand it.”

A part of her felt a little condescended to, in that the Doctor thought she wouldn’t get it if he went into greater detail.  But, the bigger part of her was a hacker extraordinaire and realised that it wasn’t her field and he was completely correct that it would go over her head. 

“So, how do they tell time around here?” she asked instead, figuring it wouldn’t hurt to ask that particular question.

“They learned to track the other planets in the system,” he answered, still waggling his hands at her in his sheer excitement.  “There are seven, and two of those are even closer in, so they worked out the orbital periods of those other worlds and applied it to theirs.  It’s really quite elegant.”

Daisy wondered if the Doctor flailed around like that every time he had to give some sort of explanation, because he nearly poked someone in the eye as the crowd passed around them.  Skylar leaned a little backward, and let him get on with it, but Daisy couldn’t miss the undeniable fondness in his eyes, even obscured by the mask.

“We’re blocking traffic,” Skylar pointed out.  “Why don’t we save the rest of the explanations until we get to the band’s rooms?”

“Excellent suggestion,” the Doctor agreed.  “Lead the way.” He waved Skylar forward, and Daisy could have sworn there was an eye roll involved behind the blue Robin Hood get-up.

The street really did remind Daisy of pictures she’d seen of New Orleans: brick and wood buildings, most two and three storeys tall with fancy balconies and porticos, doors open to the crowds in the streets.  Exotic-looking plants crawled up ornate trellises.  There were musicians on the street corners, bright tunes sounding over the babble of voices that wrapped around Daisy’s brain like a warm blanket…

“Wait a second!” She grabbed the Doctor’s sleeve to stop their forward movement once more.  “How come all these aliens are speaking English?”

“The TARDIS is translating for you,” he explained, as if this was the most obvious thing in the universe.

“But the TARDIS is back on Hubworld!”  Daisy had no idea just how far away that was, but it had to be light-years at least.

“It’s Time Lord technology,” the Doctor shrugged.  “I’d explain it, but I don’t think you’d understand.”  Then he seemed to back up, as if he realised that he’d just insulted Daisy. Again.  “What I mean is, it’s complicated and very advanced.  I only know of one person who really gets it besides me, and that’s my son.”

Okay, that wasn’t nearly as bad as his first comment had been, and Daisy accepted it.  Because, really, he had a point: chances were, she wouldn’t understand it, even if he did explain.

“Don’t feel bad,” Skylar added, “I don’t get it, either.”

Somehow, that actually made her feel a little bit better.

The building that Skylar led them to was three storeys, with a balcony that wrapped around the middle floor.  There were wooden posts that held up the balcony, and they were draped with vines and flowers that smelled almost like roses, only they didn’t look a thing like any rose that Daisy had ever seen; they were more like carnations, only with smooth petals, and they were a bright pink. 

The door leading inside was open, like most of the others, and Skylar headed inside, the Doctor and Daisy right behind him.  The interior was a restaurant, cosy and warm, half-filled with customers seated at rustic tables, each and every one of them in masks.  Some were plain, while others were wildly ornate, and Daisy found herself once again coveting something in the future: it was a brilliantly feathered monstrosity that was about two feet tall, and it was absolutely _fantastic_.  It took everything Daisy had not to go and snatch it off the woman who was wearing it then running away.

Well, at least she thought it was a woman, if the breasts were any indication. Yes, there were three of them, but breasts were breasts all over the universe, right?

There were stairs just past the dining area, and Skylar took them up it to the next floor.  There was someone standing just at the landing, and this guy wasn’t wearing a mask, but then officially they weren’t in public any longer.

He was gorgeous.  Even if he was obviously alien.

The young man had dusky skin, with fine scaling up his neck, across his cheeks and over his temples.  He had brilliant blue eyes, and a sweet smile…including the slightly longer than human canines.  His hair was a silvery white, a bit shaggy around his face and short in the back.  His clothing was a riot of colour that might have looked garish on anyone else, but it suited him.

“Nathan!” the Doctor exclaimed happily.  “You’re looking well.”

Well, Nathan was a human enough name, even if it felt a little out of place on someone who was so striking in appearance.

“So are you, Doctor,” Nathan answered warmly.  “And this must be Daisy.”

Instead of holding out a hand, Nathan bowed to her, and Daisy found herself blushing a little.  “That’s me,” she confirmed, her natural confidence hiding the sudden rush of nerves she felt.  It wasn’t because this guy was alien; it was because she had an extremely sudden, hideously embarrassing, crush on him.  It made her feel like a kid again, and Daisy had long ago grown up.

Skylar had removed his mask and hat, and had a sour expression on his face…and he was also rather dishy, even though he looked as if he’d just sucked on a lemon.

Then he smirked, and reached over to ruffle Nathan’s hair.

Nathan ducked under the gesture, shouting, “Hey!”  He stepped back, looking aggravated.  “Why does everyone have to do that?”

“Because we can,” Skylar laughed.  “Come on, brother…Aunt Morgan is waiting.”

Wait… _brother_?

She glanced at the pair of them.  They didn’t look a thing alike. 

The Doctor slipped past them, turning back to Daisy.  “Haven’t you ever heard of adoption?” he asked, as if he was reading her mind. 

Maybe he was.  He was an alien, too, after all.

Nathan leaned toward her.  He was a little taller than she was.  “I’m the older one,” he commented.  Then he winked at her, and followed the Doctor down the hallway.

Skylar just shook his head.  “He’s always rubbing that in.”  Then he jerked his head in the direction the others had gone.  “This way.”

Daisy had no choice but to accompany him.  She did remove her mask, though.  The metal had begun to chafe her cheeks a little, but that could also be because she’d probably been wearing a crazy smile most of the time she’d been wearing it.

Aliens…come on!

They ended up in a room at the very end of the corridor.  The place was large and airy, with the balcony doors wide open, letting in the slightly chilly breeze which had the sheer drapes fluttering.  The furnishings were nice and homey, mostly pastels and paisley fabrics on the chairs and couch, and pale wood for the tables spaced about the space.  There wasn’t a bed, but Daisy figured it was behind one of the doors leading off from the suite. 

There was a tiny kitchenette in the corner of the room, and the smell of coffee wafted over from what had to have been the sleekest, most high-tech coffee maker that Daisy had ever seen. 

The woman in the room was just a hair taller than Daisy.  She had brown hair and blue eyes, with a dimple in her chin.  She was wearing a brightly coloured dress that fell to her ankles, and her feet were bare on the muted blue carpet of the suite.   

Daisy noticed her toenails were painted an almost neon blue.

The woman came forward and pulled the Doctor into a rather exuberant hug.  “It’s so good to see you again,” she murmured just loud enough for Daisy to hear. 

“It’s been ages,” the Doctor answered, sounding vaguely guilty, returning the embrace.

Then the woman pulled away, glancing toward Daisy with a wide, welcoming smile on her pretty features.  “And this must be Daisy,” she said, offering a hand.  “I’m Morgan Jones.  Welcome to Euros.”

Daisy could see Ianto in her.  She wondered just how he and Jack had conceived her, if some sort of surrogate had been used.  But there were Jack’s features in her as well, so maybe the future has some way of spicing the genes of two men together or something? 

Or had one of them gotten pregnant, like Coulson’s mate was right now? 

Male pregnancy…who knew?   

She accepted the handshake, but Morgan surprised her by tugging her into a hug of her own.  “Thank you so much for helping Phillip.”  Her voice had a vague accent to it that reminded her of Ianto’s, and her words were genuinely grateful.

“I had to,” Daisy said simply.  Which was true; there was no question of her _not_ helping Coulson.  He would have certainly done the same thing for her, if circumstances were reversed.

Morgan released her, nodding.  “Still, those of us who know and love him appreciate it.”  She waved them to seats.  “Make yourselves comfortable.  I’ll get the coffee.”  She turned toward the kitchenette, calling back over her shoulder, “It’s not as good as Tad’s, but it’s not bad.”

It took Daisy a disgustingly long few moments to figure out that Morgan had to have been referring to Ianto.  As she sat down on the couch, she wondered if ‘Tad’ was some sort of future word for father, and guessed that had to be the case.

The Doctor folded himself into one of the chairs.  “Who all’s here on Euros, then?” he asked, sprawling inelegantly. He’d also removed his mask, tossing it carelessly onto an end table. 

Morgan busied herself with coffee cups.  “Well, there’s me, of course, and James…he’s in the band now, I didn’t know if you knew that.”

“I didn’t!” the Doctor grinned widely.  “I’m surprised no one told me about that.”

Nathan sat cross-legged on the carpet, nodding.  “He’s only been with Starshine for about a year, actually.  He plays keyboard.”

“Most of the younger ones are around,” Morgan went on.  “Jocelyn, Abraham, Carys, William, Oswyn, and Bronwyn…Erik’s off somewhere with his parents, but I expect them all to show up at some point.  Anwyn has never missed a party yet.”  She was chuckling as she set everything on a tray and carried everything out to them.  “Henry’s around…something about an anthropological study on Euros and the Festival, but I think it’s just an excuse to let loose and to make certain Abraham doesn’t get some poor being pregnant.”  She handed a cup to Daisy.  “I’m not sure how you take it.”

Daisy accepted.  “Black’s fine.”

That earned her a pleased smile.  “Always the best way, I’ve found.”

Morgan began serving the others. “Aymara has an exhibit going on in another venue, so I doubt we’ll see Emlyn anytime soon.  As far as I know, that’s everyone at the moment.  Oh, and Pryce has a shop not too far from here.  It’s temporary, but from what I understand she’s hoping to get permission to open up a more permanent storefront on the planet.”

“I saw Aunt Cadi,” Skylar added.  “I pretended not to, because you never can tell what she’s up to.”  He leaned toward Daisy from his own chair.  “Aunt Cadi’s a _criminal_.”

Daisy’s jaw dropped.  Skylar actually sounded _proud_ of that little fact.

Nathan choked on his coffee.

Morgan laughed outright.  “I think you’ll find she prefers the term _privateer_.  _Provocateur_ also works.”  She glanced at Daisy.  “Cadi is my older sister.  I’m sorry, you’re getting bombarded with names, so if you have any questions…”

“Just how many kids do Jack and Ianto have?” she blurted.  She realised that sounded rude about two seconds after she’d said it.   “And how is that even possible?”

Morgan, however, didn’t seem to mind.  “Seventeen children, nine grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.  So far.  And that’s not counting the various mates and other relatives.  As for how it’s possible…well, this _is_ the future, and male pregnancy is pretty much the norm for quite a few races.”

Daisy would have noticed the Doctor looking a little bit bothered by Morgan’s overshare if she wasn’t busy with a combination of freaking out and being really happy for her friends.

“I think you broke her,” Nathan teased.

“And I think you might have said a little too much,” the Doctor warned.

Morgan stared right at the Doctor.  “Phillip trusts her.  I think we can trust her, too.”

“Besides,” Skylar added, “we’re here to have fun.  I’m sure Daisy would love to see the rest of the Festival.”

Daisy was suddenly glad of the reprieve, because the Doctor did have a point; but, at the same time, it was just a bit bothersome that he didn’t think she could be trusted enough to keep it all to herself.  She didn’t want to wreck any sort of timelines, especially since it looked like her friends and family were doing just fine in the future.  She wasn’t about to take any sort of risk in ruining that.

“I’d love to see the Festival,” she answered. 

“Then I’m sure Skylar and Nathan wouldn’t mind showing you around,” Morgan replied. 

“You don’t need help with the set-up for later?” Nathan asked, frowning.

“We can work without you for one set,” she assured him.  “You’ll need to get back in time for the actual concert, though.”

With that permission, Nathan bounced to his feet, grinning.  “Thanks, Aunt Morgan! I’m sure that between me and Skylar, we’ll keep Daisy occupied.”

“And I’m sure you can drag at least Abraham, Carys and Bronwyn into it,” Morgan suggested.  “They’re down at _Star_ _Teas,_ busily being bored while supposedly helping Pryce out.  It’s her contribution to the ‘let’s keep the kids occupied so they don’t get into trouble’ campaign.”  She grinned.  “Personally, I think getting into a little trouble isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”

“And I’ll just tag along – “ the Doctor began.

“Nope,” Morgan interrupted, “I have just the thing for you to do, Doctor.  I know you won’t mind giving me a hand, right?”

Wait…did she just bat her eyes at the Doctor?

Well, it didn’t seem to work very well, because the Doctor suddenly looked very cross.  “I’m not sure – “

“I am, and I do really need your assistance.  The children can look after themselves for a bit.”

Daisy wasn’t so sure liked being called a child, but she probably was compared to Morgan Jones.  She had no real idea how old she was – she looked about twenty – but if she was Ianto and Jack’s kid, then chances were she was as immortal as the pair of them.

Male pregnancy.  Huh.

It was only fair that guys had to take some of the same crap that women did.

Nathan held out a hand to her, and Daisy accepted it.  Damnit, she felt like a teenager all of a sudden, so maybe Morgan’s comment wasn’t so far off base after all.

Still, nothing would come of it, of course.  She’d be heading back to her own time soon, and Nathan most likely didn’t even feel the same, fluffy, things that Daisy herself was feeling.  This had to be the first real crush she’d ever had, unless she counted that kid back when she was twelve, in the group home she’d ended up in after another disastrous foster placement.  She hadn’t even felt quite this way about Ward, the bastard.  She’d thought her feelings toward him were far more on the adult end of the infatuation scale. 

This…this, was teenage shit, and Daisy Johnson was an agent of SHIELD and an Inhuman and should have been above such crap.

Hey, she couldn’t help it that she thought Nathan was dishy!

The sour look was back on Skylar’s face, and Daisy couldn’t figure out what that was all about.  Still, it wasn’t going to ruin her good time.  After all, she was on an alien planet, about to enjoy a worldwide party!  There was no way nothing was going to get her down.

Although, she couldn’t quite push away her worry about Coulson, and her hope they’d be able to figure out how to help him.

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

 

**_10 September 5192 (Earth Standard Date)_ **

**_Euros_ **

 

 _Star Teas_ was in a large booth located in one of Euros’ many squares.  It had company with several other food venues, and the smells were making Daisy’s stomach rumble. 

There were tables set up all around the square.  Not all of them were filled, but the ones that were had yet another mixture of human and human-like and completely alien beings at them.  Families were well represented, and a teeny tiny part of Daisy squee’d a little at how cute a lot of the kids were.

The _Star Teas_ booth was somewhat busy, but Nathan and Skylar bypassed the crowd and made their way around to the back, and Daisy followed.  The booth itself was a semi-permanent structure, made of something that wasn’t quite, but was almost similar to, wood, with solid walls that extended a good fifty feet from the front of the booth.  There was a door there, and Nathan rapped on it five times, then twice more, in what had to have been a pre-arranged signal.

The door opened, and Daisy got her first look at Abraham. 

He was good-looking, and on first glance Daisy could tell he knew it.

Abraham was a kid, or at least looked like one.  She would have put him in his teens, but that was really misleading, since Ianto could have passed for mid-twenties and was actually thousands of years old.  He had curly, sandy-coloured hair and brilliant green eyes, which Daisy swore twinkled when he smiled at her. 

“You must be Daisy,” he said, giving her that eye twinkle.  He had an accent that sounded vaguely British.  “We’ve heard a lot about you.  I’m Abraham.”  He stepped out the door as he offered his hand.  “I had no idea they were quite this gorgeous in the past.”

Oh lord, he was flirting with her! 

Daisy accepted the handshake, saying, “And I had no idea they were quite as full of it in the future.”

Instead of being insulted, Abraham laughed.  “I can see we’re going to get along just fine.”

“Aunt Morgan sent us along to see if we could rescue you,” Nathan said affably.  “We’re going to show Daisy around the Festival.”

“Great Dragons bless her,” Abraham said fervently.  “Aunt Pryce is a slave-driver, and the last thing I heard slavery had long been abolished in the Empire.  Let me see who else wants to go.” 

He ducked back inside, leaving the three of them to wait.  The area they were standing in was obviously some sort of service area, where deliveries and stuff like that happened.  Currently, they were the only ones back there, and Daisy took a moment to get to know her companions better.

“So, are you children, or grandchildren?”  It was obvious neither of them were the single great-grandchild, since they were brothers. 

Nathan laughed.  “Grandchildren.  Our dad is one of the sons.”

“We really can’t say too much,” Skylar butted in, “because it might do weird things to the timelines…”

“No, I get it,” Daisy assured them.  “I’m just glad that Jack and Ianto got to have a family.”  And, she was.  What totally shocked her was the notion that her Coulson had ended up marrying one of their kids. 

Not that she’d say that, of course.

“I can’t believe you know Granddad and Grandtad in the past,” Nathan enthused. 

“Well, it’s more Coulson,” she admitted.  “I work for him.  Ianto, though, helped me out when I really needed it, and we got to be friends.”

“You work for…Phillip?” Skylar asked. 

Daisy wanted to call him on that small hesitation, but she didn’t.  If it was something she was cleared to know, he’d have said. 

“Yeah.  He saw something in me, and he gave me a chance.  So, helping him wasn’t a hard decision at all.  Although, I might be in a bit of trouble when I get back…” Daisy didn’t want to even consider getting caught.  Betraying Coulson was number one on her list of thing she never wanted to do again.

“Why would you think that?” Nathan enquired.

“Well, I had to steal the information they needed to help him,” she explained.  “If I get back and he’s found that out…”

“And you can’t even explain,” Skylar concluded.  He sighed.  “And we all know how Phillip reacts to betrayal.”

Just from his commiserating tone, Daisy knew he really was familiar with her Coulson, and that he hadn’t changed all that much over three thousand years. 

“The Doctor will get you back in time,” Nathan sounded completely certain.  “You won’t get caught.”

There was something in that tone that had Daisy believing him.  But then, he would have known the Doctor, so that was a plus. 

The door opened once more, and Abraham stepped out, accompanied by two others, both girls.  One of them had an Asian cast to her features, with fire-red hair and dark eyes, and probably topped out at five feet at the most.  Still, Daisy thought she reminded her of Melinda May: tiny, but deadly.  There wasn’t anything about her specifically that read that; in fact, it was her very innocent nature that sort of gave the game away, and the almost-demure way she dressed, in a flowing dress that was way too girly for Daisy’s taste and flat shoes that laced up her calves, almost like ballet slippers. 

The other girl had bronze skin, a slightly flat face, and black, fathomless eyes.  She was tall, taller than even Nathan, and skinny as a rail, her dark hair falling in straight lines down her back, almost to her waist.  Her white dress was frilly without being fussy, and her shoes made her even taller than she was naturally.  Daisy thought she might have had Native American blood in her somewhere.

“This is Carys,” Nathan introduced, indicating the Asian girl, “and Bronwyn,” to the Native American girl. 

Bronwyn smiled, revealing very white teeth.  “Aunt Pryce got word that you were coming,” she said, her accent more along the lines of Welsh than anything else, “and we’ve been looking forward to meeting you.”

“Aunt Pryce has released us from our servitude for the day,” Abraham commented lightly.  “So, we’re free to go anywhere we want.”

Carys rolled her eyes.  “Only you’d think a day at work as a form of slavery, Abraham.”

“C’mon,” Abraham wheedled, “you’re telling me you’d rather work than spend a day touring the Festival?”

“No, I didn’t say that,” she denied.  “I’m just saying that work isn’t that big a deal.”

Skylar slung an arm around Abraham’s shoulders.  “Cousin here would rather spend his time flirting with anyone with a pulse.  And a few without.”

Once again, Abraham didn’t seem to be taking any sort of offence.  “At least I’m getting some.”

It reminded Daisy of the conversation she’d had with Coulson, just after she’d stolen those files from his safe, and the guilt came roaring back a little.  She managed to shove it back down, and instead turned a grin on the five new friends she’d gained.  “I thought you were all gonna show me around?” she asked, putting her hands on her hips. 

“Daisy’s right,” Bronwyn agreed.  “Let’s get our masks, and we’ll head out.”

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

 

**_10 September 5192 (Earth Standard Date)_ **

**_Euros_ **

 

Daisy had the best time _ever_.

The Festival was about as much fun as she’d hoped.  There were so many things to see, and do, and it seemed like time didn’t pass at all as the six of them wandered the city, poking their noses into all sorts of things.  At some point, they all stopped and got food; Daisy then realised that she didn’t have any money, but Nathan, Skylar, and Abraham all got into a minor tussle about just who was going to treat her, leaving room for Carys to roll her eyes, step forward, and do it while they were distracted. 

What Carys used to pay was a stick about the thickness of a pencil and half as long, with a blunt end that was inserted into a reader at the food kiosk they’d found themselves in.  The person who waited on them had six arms, and it was fascinating to watch as they got their order together, all six arms moving gracefully as the being prepared everything. The board on the outside of the booth proclaimed it served ‘genuine Earthen food’ but as far as Daisy could tell on first glance that there was nothing genuine about it.  The fries she ordered were purple, and meat on the so-called burger was blue.  At least the cheese was a yellowish-orange that looked familiar.

It tasted like a burger and fries though, so she supposed the colours didn’t matter all that much.

A part of Daisy wished she could stay in the future permanently.  She felt accepted by her companions.  Abraham flirted with her constantly, while Skylar looked at his cousin as if he could kill Abraham with his brain, and Daisy couldn’t figure out why.  Nathan was funny and outgoing; Carys was knowledgeable about the various alien races, which she would explain to Daisy when she had questions; and Bronwyn would point out things she thought Daisy might be interested in.

She got the distinct impression that they were having as much fun playing tour guide as she was being guided.

There were entertainment venues as well as the street performers, and Daisy particularly thought the _Theatre in the Mud_ was freaking hilarious.  She didn’t know the play the actors were performing, but as it took place in the middle of an enormous mud pit…god, she wished she had a camera!

Not that she could actually take pictures back with her, but still…

She had no idea how long they’d been out and about, since the sun didn’t really move all that much, but she figured someone was keeping track of the time.  It fascinated her that there were worlds out there like Euros, where things were done differently and where there wasn’t even a night time. 

“Most people visiting usually keep their homeworld time,” Carys answered her question.  “It’s simpler to do on worlds like Euros…not that there aren’t all that many planetary systems like Euros.  Most have regular days and nights, and it’s fairly easy to keep track of time.  Sometimes it’s difficult to get into the groove of a new schedule, but if you travel enough, you get used to it.”

“My Mam travels a lot,” Bronwyn admitted.

“So does Aunt Morgan and her tour,” Nathan added.

“And my folks usually stay at home,” Abraham admitted, “unless there’s some sort of archaeological dig they want to visit, and then they usually take students with them.”  Then he leered.  “And a lot of them…”

“You’d sleep with anything that didn’t run away,” Skylar said disdainfully.

One side of Abraham’s mouth twisted upward in a pleased sneer.  “You’re just jealous.”

“It’s certainly your prerogative to think that way.”

Skylar didn’t look jealous to Daisy.

Well, at least in that moment.

That was when she realised just what all those poisonous looks Skylar had been giving his cousin every time Abraham would flirt with her.  And, the sour expression when she greeted Nathan.

Okay, that didn’t make any sense.

Skylar didn’t know her.  He’d just met her.  And yet, he was acting like…well, like…

Oh, well damn.

If she could have an insta-crush on Nathan, then it was very possible that something like that had happened to Skylar.

And didn’t Daisy feel like an idiot.

It wouldn’t matter in the long run, but a part of her couldn’t help but feel just a little bit guilty for not seeing it before.

“How long do we have before we have to head back?” she asked, wanting to drop the silent subject.

Nathan glanced at his wrist; there was a leather wrist strap buckled around it, and it reminded Daisy of the one that Jack wore the times she’d seen him, only slightly more compact.  Flipping up the cover, he said, “We probably should start making our way back to the venue,” he admitted.  “Aunt Morgan may have given me the day off, but I really should be there to help with the actual concert tonight.”  He flipped it closed.  “Is everyone going to be there?”

“I have a play tonight,” Skylar answered.  He’d told Daisy that he was there with a theatre troupe that he and his friend had formed, and they were doing some medieval productions…which explained why he was all dressed up as Blue Boy Robin Hood.  Skylar had admitted that they were more theatrical than historically accurate, but he’d said it with such pride that Daisy couldn’t help but smile at him.  He returned it, his blue eyes happy behind his mask. 

“I wish I could see it,” she admitted.

“Oh, it’s fine,” he waved it off, but she could tell he was pleased that she wanted to.  Yep, he was in the same boat over her that she was over Nathan.  She certainly hadn’t meant for _that_ to happen.  “Maybe, if you’re still here tomorrow, you can catch the matinee.”

“That sounds like a plan.”  Daisy was looking forward to it, even though she didn’t know when the Doctor would decide it was time to leave.

Daisy wanted to wait, though, until there was word about Coulson and if the information she’d stolen had helped him.  Seeing him there, in that sealed lab because his magic was out of control, had really bothered her. 

Phil Coulson and magic.  As if AC could be any more awesome.

Although, if the Doctor was right, Coulson didn’t think it was all so awesome himself. 

It was too bad, really, because it gave her and Coulson something a bit in common.  However, Daisy could understand why he’d feel that way about it, especially if the magic had somehow come from Loki.  After all, who’d want that sort of reminder of the bastard that had killed him in the first place?

She’d just have to help him through it, when he finally came to the realisation that he was both immortal, and some sort of wizard.  Maybe head off the inevitable Harry Potter jokes…

Daisy trusted Nathan to be able to get them back where they needed to go.  In one of the many plazas Skylar peeled off, saying he needed to get back to his group, and promising that he’d be up to his Aunt Morgan’s for breakfast in what would have been morning for them.  She watched as he got lost in the crowd, and then followed the others back toward the hotel where Morgan and Nathan had been staying.

They didn’t get very far before a loud explosion rocked the ground under their feet, followed by three others from a distance away.

Daisy ducked instinctively.  Then she was up and running toward the scene of the nearest explosion.  She could see smoke rising in the direction Skylar had gone, and she suddenly felt like freaking out over his safety.  She’d only just met him, and she would never see him again once she got back to her own time, but she felt he could have been a good friend.

The crowds were panicking, and it took a bit of fighting to move forward against the tide of beings who were fleeing the scene.  She certainly couldn’t blame them for running away; it was only idiots like Daisy who were heading into the danger zone.

There was a sudden roaring, and when she looked up she saw a dragon flying overhead.

It was pitch black, and looked more like the Oriental dragon she’d once seen on a robe that May had owned.  It had no wings, but it was magnificent all the same: silvery fur fluttered in the breeze as it passed, from a mane down its head and neck, and from a long, streaming tuft on the tip of the tail.  It had ornate antlers as well that glowed faintly as it flew past.

It was beautiful.

Daisy shook off her surprise, and started back toward the scene of the explosion.  From what she could make out, a rather large building had taken the brunt of the blast, resembling a smoking ruin more than a structure now.  There were bodies on the ground, but many of them were moving, and she hoped there were medical and emergency services on their way to the incident.

The black dragon landed before her, and Daisy found herself joining it.  “Do you know what’s going on?” she asked it, her eyes darting about, taking in the chaos about her.

“There were other explosions,” the dragon answered.  “The others have gone to check on those.  Have you seen Skylar?”

In that moment, Daisy recognised the voice as her new friend, Nathan.

“No,” she answered worriedly, trying not to react to the fact that Nathan was just as gorgeous as a dragon as he was in his mortal form.  “Could he be under all that?” She gestured toward the rubble that had once been some sort of arena.

“I don’t know,” Nathan admitted.  “But the blast shouldn’t have done too much damage to him, I should think.”

“Here I am,” Skylar’s voice said behind them.  Only, it was different…

It seemed he was a dragon, too.  Which was just too cool for words.

Skylar’s scales were indigo with black accents, and he was more of a version of dragon like Ianto was, with large wings that were spread out, as if he was about to fly off.  He was somewhat smaller than Nathan, but Daisy wondered if that had more to do with the fact that he was the younger of the two. 

It really shouldn’t have shocked her so badly that both Nathan and Skylar were dragons.  After all, while no one had come right out and said it, they _were_ related to Ianto, and he was a dragon, after all.  She wanted to ask, though, about how Nathan was one, when at least one of his parents was an alien, but it really was a miracle that there were dragons back in the universe, so maybe her questions could wait until they cleaned up this mess.

“I hadn’t made it to the venue yet,” Skylar went on, “but my friends…” 

He looked scared, and Daisy couldn’t blame him.  “We need to get in there and see if we can help.”

“Agreed,” Nathan rumbled.

“Can your powers feel if anyone’s in the rubble?” Skylar asked. 

“I’ve never used them for that,” Daisy admitted, curious as to how they’d known about them. 

Oh, wait… they were somehow related to Coulson, if they were related to Ianto.  It was very possible that he’d said something.  She was still getting used to the fact that her Coulson had married one of Ianto and Jack’s kids to be thinking about what Coulson might have been sharing.

Daisy held a hand out, palm tilted toward the rubble.  In the distance, she could hear sirens, but she had no idea how long it would take anyone to get there.  She had to try, and if they knew where any survivors were, it would make it easier to rescue them.

When her powers had first manifested, Daisy had thought she just had the ability to create earthquakes.  It had been Lincoln, and Jaiying, who’d shown her exactly what she could do: it all had to do with vibrations, even down to the molecular level, and it opened up an entirely new world for her than her just being overly destructive.

She certainly didn’t understand the science behind it, if there was really science involved.  But her instincts told her things, and she listened to them, because her power and her instinct were linked in some way Daisy might never be able to completely comprehend.

Daisy wanted to close her eyes, but didn’t.

Instead, she reached out with her senses, the ones that let her feel the vibrations around her, and she put everything she had into _feeling_ for anyone under the pile that had once been a building, but that someone had destroyed for no reason she could actually figure out.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Theatre in the Mud_ is a real thing! It happens at my local Renaissance Faire every year, and it's every bit as hilarious as it sounds!


	8. Chapter 8

 

**_10 September 5192 (Earth Standard Date)_ **

**_Euros_ **

 

Daisy had no idea how long she, Nathan, and Skylar had worked before rescue finally came to pitch in with their efforts to dig down to whoever had been trapped in the rubble. 

All she did know what that they managed to save twelve people, and to recover five bodies.

It was five bodies too many.

At some point, the Doctor had shown up, minus his mask, and had pulled her away.  Daisy had wanted to fight him, to get back to helping, but she knew her strength, and she’d worked past it.  Her arms felt like jelly, the very bones aching from the use of her powers.  The gauntlets helped; at least the bones weren’t broken, but Daisy knew she’d reached her limit a bit ago, and so didn’t put up much of an argument when the Doctor led her over to a collapsible chair and had sat her down on it.

She’d also lost her mask a while ago, and despite her previous need to keep it, Daisy found now she didn’t miss it.  It simply wasn’t on her list of priorities at the moment.

“You’ve done good,” his quiet voice told her, “now it’s time to rest and let others take over.”

“What happened?” she managed to say.  Her throat was dry and caked with dust, and someone – she didn’t see who – pressed a round thing in her hand that had water in it.  She was trembling almost too much, and the Doctor guided it to her mouth, so she could drink.

“There were four bombs,” he told her, “set at random places throughout the city.  No one’s come forward to claim responsibility yet, and we won’t really know more until the investigation is complete.  But Torchwood is here, so are Imperial Security, and they’ll take over.”

Daisy’s eyes went back to the rubble.  Nathan and Skylar were still at it, using dragon strength to pull large clumps of wood and stone away.  There was grime all over them; it made Nathan’s scales look grey, and Skylar’s pale blue. 

“This is…” She didn’t know what to say.  There were far too many words to describe it, and she couldn’t settle on just one that conveyed the horror she was experiencing.

She might have been a trained agent, but this she would _never_ get used to.

“I know,” the Doctor murmured, understanding her complete inability to put what she was feeling into speech.

“They need to catch the son of a bitches who did this.”  Daisy didn’t even try to hide her outrage.

“Don’t worry.  They will.”

Daisy believed him.  There was such certainty and rage in those words, and in his way too old eyes, that she didn’t doubt the Doctor for a second. 

“I’m sorry this didn’t turn out to be the adventure you thought it would.”

“Don’t be.  You had no idea that some assholes were gonna blow shit up.”

The Doctor grimaced at her profanity, but didn’t comment on it.  “Still, it’s not quite the reward I promised.”

“Or I blackmailed you into.”

“I was going to offer anyway.”

Daisy gave him a tired smile.  “Actually, I’m glad I’m here, and I was able to help these people.”

The Doctor didn’t say anything to that.  He simply patted her hand, and then made his way over to one of the several uniformed people on the scene, a being that resembled nothing more than a bi-pedal rhino, only one that was wearing some sort of battle armour and was armed to the teeth.

They were joined by a human male, wearing the now-familiar Torchwood uniform, only this one in a brilliant red.  This guy also had a sword, of all things, as well as some sort of gun at his waist, and his face was dark with anger.  His curly brown hair fluttered slightly in the breeze that was kicking up, and he nodded at something the Doctor said then headed toward Daisy. 

“Agent Johnson,” he said, squatting down in front of her, his grey eyes kind, “I’m Leon DeGrance, Senior Knight of Torchwood.  I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions about what happened.”  He had a pleasant, calm voice, with a British accent.

Daisy was too tired to keep the surprise from her face.  “What…Torchwood has Knights in the future?”

Leon chuckled.  “It’s a thing, now.”

Okay, just when Daisy thought she knew Torchwood… “Sure, ask whatever you need.” 

Leon took her over everything she’d seen, which really wasn’t much.  He didn’t take any notes, which either meant he had some sort of recording device on him, or the guy had a really good memory.  His questions were careful and insightful, and Daisy found herself appreciating his approach.  She also had to wonder just what his interrogation technique was like.  She was willing to bet he was one of those who could get you to admit to anything, just by being so _nice_ about it.

They were interrupted once, by an elderly gentleman Leon called Gaius, who was obviously a medical doctor and who wanted to check on Daisy’s physical condition.  Someone must have clued him in on her abilities – she was certain it had to have been Coulson – and took very detailed scans of her arms, tutting in a very disapproving manner and giving her a raised eyebrow that would have put both May and Coulson to shame.  It was like getting scolded by a grandparent who was disappointed in your life choices.  Or, what she assumed it would be like, since she didn’t actually have any experience with grandparents.

Gaius gave her a shot of something that had her arms feeling almost immediately better, then he was off to the next person he could lavish his lack of bedside manner on.

“Is he always like that?” she asked, once he was gone.

“You have no idea,” Leon chuckled. 

He then started up the questioning again.  Daisy was determined to be completely honest with him.  She wanted them to catch the crazies who’d thought it was a really good idea to blow up innocent people.

“We’ll get them,” Leon assured her with such confidence she couldn’t help but believe him. 

“Hey, Leon,” Nathan said, joining them.  He’d changed back into his human form, and his blue eyes were just as angry as Daisy felt.

“Nathan,” Leon greeted him with a clap on the shoulder.  “Your Dad’s here, he’s coordinating from Government House with Jack and Ianto.”

Nathan narrowed his eyes.  “Which Dad?”

Leon rolled his eyes good-naturedly.  “You can’t guess?”

“And Other Dad is okay with that?”  Nathan looked as if he was about to storm off or hit something.

“He sent him.”

That got a defeated sigh.  “Of course he did.”

Daisy’s eyes went from one to the other, trying to decipher the conversation that was going on in front of her.  “You know, speaking all mysteriously is only going to make me more curious.”

Leon grimaced.  “I apologise, Agent Johnson.  I was warned that there were certain things I couldn’t say outright.”

She waved a tired hand.  “Yeah, I get it.  Not that I have to like it, though.”

So, Nathan had two fathers, and Daisy wasn’t supposed to know who they were.  Really, all that did was cause the gears in her mind to spin, and she had to curse a little when they finally coughed up what had to be the truth. 

“You’re Coulson’s kid!” she blurted before she could keep a tight rein on her mouth. 

Sue her, she was wiped out.

Nathan looked chagrined.  “I should have known you’d figure it out.”

“That means that Skylar…”

“Yep.”

And, that made Daisy’s mind go into a direction she never would have considered if she wasn’t so freaking tired.

The grin wouldn’t be kept inside.  “He named Skylar after me, didn’t he?”

Leon and Nathan glanced at each other, but they didn’t say anything.  Really, they didn’t have to.  Daisy was certain of it, just as much as she was certain of her name.

All of her names.

Warmth bloomed in her chest.  Coulson _had_ remembered her, and had named one of his kids after her.  That…damnit, no, she wasn’t going to cry about it. 

Yeah, she was.

It proved to her just how much she meant to Phil Coulson, that he would still remember her after so long, and to want a little bit of her back in his life.  It hadn’t been a daughter; Daisy had no idea just how much norms had changed in the future that it would have been appropriate to name a boy ‘Daisy’, but Skylar worked wonderfully. 

After her real father had told her her birth name, it had seemed like a good thing to change it back to that.  It had been the name he and her mother had given her; she’d been searching for that almost her entire life, even attempting to hack SHIELD to get information.  It was who she was, and who she would be for the rest of her life.

But she was _Skye_ to Coulson.  He was having such a hard time calling her Daisy, and she had to wonder if it was more the fact that this was how he saw her, instead of just how she’d introduced herself to him.  That Skye was _his_ , while Daisy belonged to someone else entirely.

She had to wonder if this was such a bad thing, for her to be Skye to the man she’d thought of as her father before the crazy one had come along.

A handkerchief appeared in her line of sight, and she thanked Leon for its use to wipe her eyes.  This was like an epiphany, slapping her upside the head like a hammer in her current state.  “Sorry,” she murmured, “but I just realised something that I had no clue about.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Nathan said.  “But you might want to speak to Skylar.  He kinda grew up on stories about you, and I think he’s got a bit of hero worship going on.”

So, maybe it wasn’t a crush, then, that she’d seen in him.  “Yeah, can you send him over?”

Nathan gave her a big smile.  “You got it.”  Then he reached down and touched her shoulder.  “I’m really glad you worked it out.  I think it’s been driving him a little crazy not being able to mention it.”

With that, Nathan left her with Leon, who thanked her and also left.  Her eyes tracked him to another knot of people, one of which was an elderly woman who kept darting looks in Daisy’s direction, as if she couldn’t quite make her out.

“Hi,” Skylar’s voice brought her attention back to where it belonged.

Somewhere along the way, his human form had lost his mask, and Skylar’s expression was almost painfully shy. 

“Hey,” she said in return.  “Did we get all your friends out?”

Skylar nodded.  His eyes were sad and angry at the same time.  “Jonas is…he’s dead, but the others were only hurt.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” he answered.  “I think…he was killed almost immediately, from what the rescue worker who pulled him out said.  Someone’s going to have to tell his parents…” he swallowed, hard, and then collapsed onto the ground in front of her, curling his legs up under him, his eyes watching the continuing relief efforts.  “It was only a play,” he whispered, his voice so soft Daisy almost didn’t hear him.  “We…thought this would be a good place to premier it, you know?  Our entire troupe is really just starting out, only been at it for a couple of years. We met each other at University, and we were all going to tour together…”  He swiped a hand almost brutally across his eyes, but not before Daisy saw the tears. 

She leaned forward, touching his shoulder.  At the gesture, he looked up at her, and his blue eyes were stricken with a combination of sorrow and rage.  “They’re gonna get them.”  She didn’t need to say who she was talking about.

Skylar nodded.  “I…stood there, and made my own Vow of Vengeance.  It’s the first one I’ve ever had to make…”

Daisy was familiar with them, although she’d never seen either Jack or Ianto say one before.  She did know they were binding, and that Skylar was taking on something hard and dangerous, and possibly scarring for life.  Not that this wouldn’t do any actual scarring, because it would, and it wasn’t like she didn’t understand the whole ‘needing to get even’ thing, either.  She’d felt the same way about Ward, about how he’d almost succeeded in killing FitzSimmons, and how they’d all wondered if Fitz would ever be the same again. 

These had been Skylar’s friends, the people he’d wanted to create something special with.  And someone had come along and planted a bomb in their midst. 

“Have you heard anything about your Dad?” she asked, changing the subject.

For a brief moment, Skylar looked surprised at her question.  Then he huffed a tired laugh.  “How did you guess?”

“It wasn’t hard.”  It hadn’t been, once she’d had most of the pieces of the puzzle.  There were still some she didn’t have, but that was fine.  It really didn’t matter right now.

The young dragon sighed.  “No, nothing yet.  But my other Dad is here, and wouldn’t be if there was anything wrong.  He shouldn’t be stressing himself, but we all know how he is.  Dad probably sent him along to represent Torchwood just to get him out from underfoot.”

“When Coulson told me his mate was pregnant, I wasn’t sure whether to believe it.”

Skylar snorted.  “It runs in the family.  Not me, though, because I’m adopted, but Nathan can.  Our other Dad carried him, and Nicole. This was before Dad came along, though.  He sort of adopted Nathan and Nicole when they were mated.”

Daisy frowned.  How was that possible that Skylar wasn’t a blood relative, if he was a dragon?

So, her curiosity buzzing, she asked, not expecting to get a straight answer.

“That’s a long story,” Skylar replied.  “Let’s just say my natural parents are long dead, and leave it at that.”

“Yeah, I really didn’t think you’d tell me.”

“Sorry.  But – “

“Spoilers.  I get it.”

They sat there in silence for a little bit, just watching the people swarm the area, making certain they’d managed to get everyone out of the mess the bomb had made. 

“So, you’re named after me, then?”

Skylar blushed.  “Yep.  Dad would tell me stories about his brave Skye, and how special she was.  It…was like being named after a hero.”

Suddenly, Daisy knew what someone like Captain America must have felt like when he got fangirled over.  It was _really_ uncomfortable.

“I’m not really all that special, you know,” she denied.

“See, that’s what I thought, too,” Skylar said.  “I was so sure Dad was making stuff up, or that he wasn’t remembering correctly, but then I met you, and…I think he was understating things a bit.  What you did today, to try and save my friends…that was amazing.  I’m proud to be named after you.”

Daisy felt herself blushing.  Geez, why couldn’t she just sink into the ground and escape the awe in her new friend’s eyes?

“Are you both alright?”

It was the elderly woman.  Somehow, she’d managed to approach without Daisy noticing, which would have had Coulson on her about situational awareness if he’d been around.  The woman’s hair was grey with some blonde strands still in it, her eyes pale, and she was regarding both of them with true concern. 

“Hey, Gran,” Skylar greeted her.  “We’re okay.”

Daisy’s eyebrows rose. 

“Hello, dear,” Skylar’s grandmother replied in an American accent.  “And you’re Daisy.  It’s so nice to meet you.”  She leaned forward and hugged Daisy, taking her by surprise.  Daisy froze for a second, and then returned the hug, feeling like she needed it far too badly to refuse.  It had been a good day, up until the bomb going off.

“You look confused,” the older woman commented once she’d pulled away.

“You could say that!” Daisy exclaimed.  “How can you be Skylar’s grandmother?”  Coulson wouldn’t have had relatives who were immortal, and Coulson’s mate was one of Jack and Ianto’s children…

“Great-grandmother, actually.”  The woman had a really nice smile.  “I’m sorry, Daisy, but I can’t tell you.  I wish I could, but timelines won’t let me.”

“I’m running into that a lot!”

She didn’t say anything, just looked sympathetic. 

Daisy appreciated it.

“Let’s get the two of you out of here,” Skylar’s great-grandmother said.  She chivvied Daisy up out of her chair, and Skylar off the ground.  “I’ve spoken to Morgan and the Doctor, and they want me to take you back to the hotel and put you both to bed.  The pair of you _and_ Nathan have done all you need to today.  The professionals can handle the rest.”

Daisy didn’t want to leave.  She wanted to stay and help some more, but there really wasn’t anything else she could do.  The older lady was right; they should be leaving it to the professionals now, and they’d take care of everything else.

As they stumbled away – Nathan joining them as they left the area – Daisy wondered how hard it would be to convince the Doctor to let her stay and help with trying to track down whoever the hell had done this.  It took a special kind of asshole to target innocents, and she really wanted in on the takedown. 

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

 

**_11 September 5192 (Earth Standard Date)_ **

**_Euros_ **

Daisy woke up, confused.  This wasn’t her room at the Playground…

And then she remembered when and where she was.

Groaning softly, she sat up on the cot she’d been given the night before…was it night?  She couldn’t tell; the same brilliant light penetrated the curtains on the window now as it had when she’d gone to bed, but then if the Doctor was right then Euros didn’t have days and nights.  She wasn’t wearing a watch; she’d let it back on Hubworld, with her backpack, when she’d decided that wearing her gauntlets would be a really cool idea. 

It had, she just hadn’t even considered she’d actually need them.

She stretched, her back popping.  Her arms felt pretty good, so whatever Dr Gaius had given her had worked like a charm. 

Morgan had lent her something to wear to bed, and the frilly nightgown wasn’t her style but that was fine.  She hadn’t cared a bit when she’d gone to bed, far too tired to complain about it and ask for some sort of sweats…or what passed for sweats in the future.  Daisy threw off the blanket that someone must have spread over her…but then, she really didn’t remember much after her head had hit the pillow.  It was a little chilly, but she didn’t mind as she got up.

The clothes she’d worn yesterday were gone.  Morgan had tactfully mentioned something about burning them, and finding her something else to put on when she was up and around.  There was a shirt and slacks at the foot of the bed, her gauntlets laying across them, and Daisy quietly pulled them on, settling the gauntlets on once more.  The slacks were a little long, the shirt a little baggy, and they weren’t at all her style, but they were fine for the time being.

She wasn’t the only one in the room.  The hotel management had managed to scrounge up cots for some of the hundreds of people who’d found themselves without a place to stay; it had been one of the major hotels that had been another of the four targets for explosives yesterday.  There were three others sharing her room; apparently, they were all members of Morgan’s band, giving up their beds for others who needed them. 

Daisy made it to the door without disturbing anyone else.  Carefully, she pulled the door open, and crept outside, shutting it silently behind her.  The room beyond was the sitting room, where just hours ago – or maybe days, she didn’t know – she’d met Morgan, and had been ready for her adventure during the Festival.

So much had changed.

Morgan was up.  She was curled up in one of the chairs, cradling a coffee mug in one hand.  She was fully dressed in sombre colours, her hair pulled back in a ponytail.  She looked tired, and Daisy wondered if she’d slept at all.

She wasn’t alone.  The Doctor was also there, his deep purple coat, waistcoat, and bow tie gone, his once-white shirt stained and one of his suspenders twisted, as if he’d removed it and then hadn’t hooked it back right.  His black trousers were grimy, and his bare feet were propped up onto a plush ottoman that matched the chair he was in.  His head was leaning back against the back of the chair, eyes closed, but Daisy didn’t think he was asleep.

It was the third person in the room, though, that had her attention.

It was Phil Coulson.

He looked so much better than the last time Daisy had seen him.  His skin was back to a normal colour, and his eyes were also back to being blue, even though they were a little lighter than the last time she’d seen him in the past, as if there was a faint sheen of ice over the irises.  He looked up as she entered the room, smiling as he recognised her. 

Before she even knew she was moving, she had him in a fierce hug.  “It worked!” she exclaimed happily.

His arms went around her, and Daisy couldn’t help but notice he was just a bit chillier than the last time she’d hugged him, back before she’d found herself on this adventure, and wondered if that was an aftereffect of what he’d been through. 

“It did,” he murmured into her hair.  “Thank you for doing this for me.”

Daisy held him for longer than she planned, but she was just so glad to see he was alright now.  Eventually, though, she pulled away, taking in the black Torchwood uniform he was wearing.  “Anytime, AC,” she volunteered, the smile on her face so wide her cheeks were hurting.

Coulson looked surprised.  “It’s…been a long time since I’ve been called that.”

“I’d repeat that it’s because I think you’re cool, but I think that’s a little too close to the truth now.”

Coulson laughed, and it was a little strange to see him being so loud like that, but at the same time it suited him; a part of her wondered if he ever laughed like that in front of Clint.  Daisy was glad he wasn’t quite so buttoned-up in the future, that he’d learned to relax a little. 

“I’m sorry you were involved in this,” he went on, once he’d calmed down. 

“Don’t be.  I’m glad I was here to help where I could.”

“You were brilliant,” the Doctor enthused.  Daisy shot him a glance; he was still sprawled in his chair, but his pale eyes were on her, and he was grinning. 

Daisy felt herself blushing a little under the praise.

“You were,” Morgan agreed.  “Skylar said that there were people they might not have been able to find in time if you hadn’t been there.”

“Well, I think he might be a little biased.”  God, this was embarrassing, and she wished they’d drop the subject.

That statement had Coulson shaking his head, his lips twisted upward in a sweet smile.  “Morgan told me you’d worked it out.”

She had, and Skylar had blabbed it, which she didn’t mind really.  She was unbelievably touched by it, and humbled, that Coulson would have remembered her that fondly after so many centuries. 

“Do you have any leads on whoever planted those bombs?” she asked, changing the subject.

“We do,” Coulson answered.  “And I’ve put several of my best operatives on their trail.  I have confidence that we’ll be able to track them down.”

“I want to help.”

The moment she said it, Daisy knew it wasn’t going to happen.  The Doctor sat forward in his chair, looking as if he was about to argue, but Coulson beat him to it.

“This isn’t your fight,” he said softly.  “Although I’m glad you offered.  This is something we need to do, and you need to go home and live your life the way you’re meant to.”

One more time, it hit Daisy like a two-by-four that Coulson knew her future.  That he’d lived it.  That he must have been a witness to her eventual death. 

Daisy wanted to ask him all the questions, but knew she wouldn’t get a straight answer.  For one thing, the Doctor would object, even if Coulson would have been so inclined to share, which Daisy knew he wouldn’t be. 

“I know you hate leaving the battle half-fought,” Coulson went on, “but there really isn’t anything you can do.  And, I’ll be honest…I’d like for you to be out of the line of fire, so to speak.  Not that who we’re dealing with know you exist in this time…they can still cause chaos no matter where you’d be, and I don’t want to take that risk.  You’re needed in the past.”

“He’s right,” Morgan butted in; Daisy had almost forgotten she was there.  “While I don’t know your future, I’m willing to bet you still have a very important role to play in it.”  Then she grinned.  “Phillip, correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Bratsk take Daisy’s form more than once?”

“Yes, hir did.”  Coulson must have seen Daisy’s confusion, because he said, “My former assistant was from a race of shape-changers called Zygons who could tap into a person’s subconscious mind for shapes they could adopt.  Bratsk worked for me for decades until hir retired about a decade ago.  I still haven’t found anyone to really replace hir.”

Daisy had known about the Zygons, and she could tell he’d been fond of this Bratsk.  She thought back on Coulson’s current assistant, and wondered how Donna would have compared.  Honestly, Donna was just a bit scary, but Daisy loved her to bits because she truly cared about Coulson and took care of him as much as she was allowed.  When Donna and May teamed up against him, it was a thing of beauty. 

She still found it funny the day Donna Noble had shown up at the Playground, all red hair and fury at Coulson not having told her he was alive.  She’d been his PA before New York, and she’d been devastated when Coulson had been declared dead.  Daisy had never seen Coulson quite so taken aback than when Donna had hauled off and slapped him.

Melinda had taken it upon herself to train Donna in hand-to-hand.  As if Donna could have gotten even more formidable…

“Bratsk was one way for me to remember people,” Coulson admitted.  “But there have always been a select few that have stayed with me, even if I might not have remembered their names or their places in my life.  My heart knew, and there were spaces that will always keep them close.”

It was sad, in a lot of ways.  Coulson had been alive for so long, and probably had forgotten more people than Daisy would ever know.  She wondered just who he did remember.  If she would mention Clint, or FitzSimmons, or Trip, or even May or Donna, or anyone on their current team, would he know who she was talking about?

No, she wouldn’t do that to him.  Daisy didn’t want to hurt him, and mentioning people long gone for him would do just that.  Her heart broke for him. 

“We really should be leaving,” the Doctor said, standing and stretching.  “Phillip, you’ll have a lot of work to do, and I want to help in whatever way I can.”  

“We appreciate that,” Coulson answered warmly. 

There was something they weren’t saying, but that didn’t surprise Daisy all that much.  She got the feeling they wouldn’t be letting anything slip for her to pick up on.

“Before we go,” she said, “I’d like to say goodbye to everyone.”

“That can certainly be arranged,” Coulson agreed.  “Skylar and Nathan are in the hotel…”

“In the dining room,” Morgan offered. 

“Of course they are.”  Coulson rolled his eyes.   “I certainly hope they don’t eat the hotel out of food.”  He turned to the Doctor.  “Why don’t I take Daisy down to see them, and we’ll meet you at the transmat terminal?”

The Doctor clapped his hands together, grinning.  “Sounds like a plan.”

“Excellent.” Coulson offered Daisy his arm in a gallant gesture, and Daisy wasn’t about to pass that sort of thing up, even if she was a modern young woman who didn’t need a man to escort her anywhere.  There would always be something about Phillip Coulson that would make Daisy accept pretty much anything from him without too much argument.

Well, unless it was him ordering her out of danger.  Then, they’d most likely have words.

But not this time.  This time, she’d retreat with a certain amount of grace, because this wasn’t her place.  This was _this_ version of Coulson’s time, and he would handle things with the same focus and aplomb that she knew he had.

She had some goodbyes to make.

 

***********

 

True to Morgan’s claim, both Nathan and Skylar were in the hotel restaurant.  Both looked tired, but they were busily plowing through practically an entire table full of food.  Well, it wasn’t a shock, because Daisy had seen Ianto eat, and that particular dragon could really put it away so younger dragons would most likely devour even more.

“Dad!” Nathan cried, catching sight of them first.  He was up and out of his seat, Skylar following, and Daisy ducked out of the way of a really enthusiastic hug.  Skylar piled on, and she found herself fighting back a few tears at how happy Coulson looked in that moment.  These two boys were his family, now, and he’d have them for a long time if dragon lives were as long as Ianto claimed. 

Daisy moved past them, her stomach now grumbling at the sight of the rather enormous breakfast they’d ordered.  She picked up something that closely resembled bacon and took a bite…yes, bacon was still bacon in the future.  She had a seat and helped herself while the three of them had their reunion.

“Hey!” Nathan exclaimed, laughing, as Daisy began stuffing her face with blue eggs.  “Get your own!”

“It’s my last meal in the future,” she retorted, grinning around her mouth full.  “I’m going to enjoy it.”

Nathan lost his smile.  “So, the Doctor is taking you home then?”  Beside him, Skylar looked equally bothered by the news.

“I was only here until your Dad got better,” Daisy shrugged.  “And, as you can see,” she waved her fork in Coulson’s direction, where he stood behind his two sons, smiling at them indulgently, “he is.  So, it’s time for me to head back.”

“Besides,” Coulson spoke up, “Daisy has things to do, and so do we.”

“Surely, we have time to eat before you go,” Skylar said, taking a seat next to her.

Nathan smirked, and sat down as well.  “Pass me the eggs, would you?”

Daisy did so with one hand, busily shovelling in her own eggs with the other.  They tasted good; slightly different, with a buttery flavour and a silky texture, but enough like eggs she knew that it didn’t really matter. 

“I suppose you put this meal on Torchwood’s account?” Coulson asked mildly, taking the last seat and getting a plate of his own.

“Nope,” Nathan answered, adding something to his plate that Daisy couldn’t identify, but looked like some sort of meat.  “Morgan is paying from part of Starshine’s appearance fee.  Everything she’s making is going back into the planetary economy.”

“That’s cool,” Daisy commented.  She grabbed a piece of that meat, too, willing to try anything.

“Morgan only takes enough to cover expenses anymore,” Nathan went on.  “The band pretty much lives on the royalties from their songs.  Anything above that, it’s all gravy for the planets they play on.”

They chatted some more as all four of them ate.  Daisy was enjoying herself immensely, but at the same time she was really going to miss them all.  It had only been a short time, but she’d already thought she’d gained two new friends, and she was never going to see them again.  She thought she might miss Skylar more, even though she was still thoroughly crushing on Nathan, although she wasn’t quite sure why that was.  Maybe it was because she’d met him first; or perhaps the attraction to Nathan was getting in the way of anything else she might have been feeling. 

Still, she did belong back with her own team.  Seeing the future had been fun – except for the whole bomb thing – but maybe she was ready to go back home now.  To her Coulson, the one who’d become like a father to her, a better father than the one she’d been pining for, and stalking for no reason but for the fact that he’d looked for her, even after thinking she was gone for good.  Cal had loved her in his own way…just not in the way she needed.

However, Phil Coulson…he’d loved her the right way, and she felt closer to him than to her own flesh and blood.  Of course, it didn’t hurt that Coulson wasn’t batshit insane. 

Okay, there was that whole alien writing thing…

But that had simply proved that he’d trusted her, by telling her what was going on.  He’d been worried that it might happen to her as well, since she’d gotten a dose of the GH325 as well, but he hadn’t hidden the truth from her.  If she hadn’t already cared for him then, that would have tipped her over the edge.

She looked between Skylar and Nathan, realising just how lucky they were to have this Coulson as their father.  It was obvious they loved him in return, and Daisy felt she could leave the future, knowing that Coulson had a new family that would look after him and care for him, when she couldn’t.

Daisy would just have to go back and do the same for her AC. 

She felt completely up to the task.

 

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter to go! And then onto the next one. :)

 

**_The TARDIS_ **

****

The Doctor had been waiting for them at the transmat station, as promised.

Nathan and Skylar had gone with her; Coulson had had to get back to his investigation, but not before another hug that had lasted a little long but that Daisy revelled in.  Her Coulson wasn’t nearly as ready with the hugs as this version, and she was glad this one was because Coulson gave good hugs, even if he was a little chilly.

The three of them had their own goodbyes inside the station, and if Daisy suddenly had the urge to not let go to either of them, that was her business.

She showered and changed back into her regular clothing once they reached Torchwood.  The young girl, Lisa, had been there when they arrived, and she’d shown Daisy back to the room where her belongings were.  Also on the bed was the binder with the TAHITI information in it, and she stuffed it back into her backpack on her way out.

The TARDIS was still parked where they’d left it, untouched as far as Daisy could tell.  But then, she’d seen what the perception filter thingy did, so that didn’t surprise her.

Once they were inside, the Doctor got the time machine running, and then excused himself to change out of his dirty clothes.  He’d found his coat and waistcoat, wherever it was that he’d left them, but the bow tie was apparently missing.  Daisy wondered vaguely how many he lost on his travels.  Maybe she should start looking for them…like a trail of breadcrumbs through time.  That would be fantastic.

It didn’t take him long to get into clean clothes, but it meant that Daisy had time to reflect on everything that had happened to her in the future.  Most of the time, she’d had a real blast – no pun intended – but a part of her felt a little like a coward for going home and leaving them all to handle what had occurred on Euros. 

Still, there wasn’t a thing she really could do.  Daisy wanted to go after the bastards who’d planted bombs that had killed a lot of innocent people, but she wouldn’t even know where to start.  It hadn’t been her time frame; she’d been just a visitor, and chances were she’d only get in the way.  It had been better that she left it to the ones who were the professionals.

One of those professionals was Phil Coulson.  Another was Ianto Jones.  A third was Jack Harkness.  Three of the most impressive people Daisy had ever met.  If they couldn’t handle it, then no one would.

She wasn’t even including the Doctor in that equation, and she really should.  Although she didn’t know him all that well, Daisy could tell he was no slouch in the bad ass department.  She could trust them to get the ones who’d done it.

“I really am sorry you got involved in that,” the Doctor’s voice brought her out of her funk.

Daisy glanced over at him.  He had on a white shirt, black suspenders, and a deep blue bow tie, but his coat was missing and his sleeves were rolled up to almost his elbows.  He had his hands in his trouser pockets, and he was staring at her solemnly.  There was something in his posture that just screamed at her that he considered it all his fault for everything.

She hastened to reassure him.  “No need to be.  Besides, how were you supposed to know there’d be some sort of terrorist attack on the very planet you took me to?”

“Well, to be fair…I do sort of attract trouble.  I’m a trouble magnet.”  He almost sounded proud of the fact, and Daisy couldn’t control the faint smile she felt coming on at that statement.

“It’s cool.  I seem to have a knack of finding those sorts of people anyway.”

The Doctor snorted.  “Yes, I can see your point.”

There was that faint chime that signalled the TARDIS landing, or whatever it did.  The Doctor studied the console briefly, then his eyes met hers once more.   They were so old, but they were so full of fire and life it was almost scalding.

“Are you immortal, too?” she asked, before the thought had even come to her mind.

“No, not at all,” he answered softly.  “Although I’m extremely long-lived.”

Daisy decided she needed to do a little research on the Doctor once she got back to base.  She was certain there’d be information on him somewhere, and she was just the sort to find it.  She didn’t dare go to Torchwood, because that would get more questions asked than she was prepared to answer, but the internet was a humungous thing and there had to files around that she could dig up.

“Are you going to be able to get that binder back into Phillip’s safe?”

Daisy shrugged.  “If you managed to get me back to right after I left, then they’ll never know I left the base.”  Her eyes narrowed.  “You _did_ say you could do that, right?”  She’d given herself a week to be missing, just in case, but she hoped that she really hadn’t been gone that long.  Coulson could open his safe at any time and notice the TAHITI information gone, and she’s really rather not have that happen. 

The Doctor looked affronted.  “Of course I can!  I do know how to pilot the TARDIS, you know.”

Daisy figured he did; after all, it _was_ his time machine.  “Just checking!” She leaned over and picked up her backpack from where she’d dropped it on the floor.  “I should be heading out now.”

“Here.” The Doctor handed her the teleport disc she’d used before.  “This should get you back onto your base.  It’s a one-way trip though, and you should make sure that’s destroyed when you get the chance.  I programmed it with a short-term localised perception filter, so when you appear no one will notice if you happen to teleport into a room with someone in it.  Just don’t make any sudden moves if you do, alright?  That’d draw attention to you that you wouldn’t want.”

Daisy accepted it.  “Well, that’s useful.” 

There was a moment of awkward silence, then Daisy surged forward and hugged the Doctor.  He didn’t seem startled by the gesture, because his arms were wrapping around her tightly with no sign of hesitation.  “You are amazing, Daisy Johnson,” he murmured into her hair.  “Thank you for helping us to save Phillip.”

She didn’t say anything to that; really, there wasn’t anything _to_ say.  She would do anything for Coulson, including betraying him in the past to save him in the future. 

Because yes, even though he would never know what she’d done, she would and, in her mind, that was as much a betrayal as any other time she’d done it. 

But she could live with it.  Coulson had his future back, and that was enough. 

Daisy took a step back.  “It was nice to meet you, Doctor.”

He gave her a sweet smile.  “And you, too, Agent Daisy Johnson.  It’s no wonder Phillip remembers you fondly.”

No, Daisy _didn’t_ just blush at that.

She gave the Doctor a nod, and then, without a backward glance, she left the TARDIS.

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is the end! Tomorrow will start the next monster story, "Resurgence". Thank you all for reading!

 

**_15 July 2015 (Old Earth Date)_ **

**_The Playground (Location Redacted)_ **

 

The Doctor’s teleport disc thing worked as promised. 

One moment, Daisy had been standing in an anonymous alleyway, the TARDIS making its hideous noises as it faded away.

The next, she’d appeared in the Playground’s rec room, not feeling as sick on the return trip, and luckily for her the room was nearly empty.  Only Donna was there, standing at the coffee machine, pouring coffee into a mug that Daisy recognised as Coulson’s.

Daisy stood there, waiting for Donna to finish up before she moved, taking the Doctor’s advice about not making any sudden moves and the perception filter working to keep her presence hidden.  She was practically holding her breath, and it took an act of will to inhale quietly and not pass out. 

“You know,” Donna said out loud, “I can see right through that perception filter.”

Daisy’s heart stopped beating for a second, and when it started back up it was ridiculously loud and fast. 

Donna turned around and glared at Daisy.  “That is such a Doctor trick I’m gonna assume you’ve been off travelling with him.”

“How do you…?” she gasped.  “You know the Doctor?”

Donna rolled her eyes.  “Silly, I travelled with him for a bit before coming to SHIELD.  In fact, I met Clint Barton on the TARDIS during that mess with the Daleks stealing the planet.”

That…made sense.  Donna and Clint had always seemed close, and this explained it.  Daisy had thought it was simply because of their connection through Coulson, but this was actually better. 

She thought of her promise not to say anything to anyone about what had happened, because of timelines.  But Donna would understand.

Had the Doctor known that Donna worked for SHIELD?  Surely, he had to.  Why hadn’t he said anything about it? 

When she asked, Donna shrugged.  “We didn’t actually part company on good terms.”  Her eyes narrowed.  “Which version was it, then?  The skinny boy in the suit, or the one in the tweed?”

 _What_?  “Um…actually, he had a really ridiculous purple coat.”

“Yeah, tweedy then.  Had a bit of a chin?”

Daisy nodded. stunned. 

This was her source of information.  She could ask Donna all sorts of questions about the Doctor, and not have it get back to anyone who couldn’t know.  She could explain that she’d been sworn to secrecy, because she didn’t want to affect the future.  Donna would understand what Daisy had done, and she would also keep the secret.  After all, no one had known that Donna had also done some time travelling, and she was sure there was a reason why she hadn’t announced it to everyone she met. 

“I need to go and do something, but then can we talk?” Daisy didn’t mean to sound like she was begging, but she couldn’t help it.

Donna smiled.  There was something about the expression that reminded her of the Doctor, and Daisy could really see that Coulson’s PA could have once been on adventures with the alien.  “You got it,” she answered warmly.  “Us Companions have to stick together, after all.”

Daisy couldn’t help the grin.  She’d get the TAHITI binder back in its proper place, let Coulson know that she wasn’t leaving just yet – she’d still go on to London, and then Ddraig Llyn, because that was just an awesome idea – but she wanted to pick Donna’s brain, first.  She wanted to know all about the Doctor, and this whole Companion thing, and she couldn’t wait. 

She might have to keep this a secret from everyone else, but at least she had someone she could confide in.

Daisy got the feeling that she and Donna Noble were about to get a lot closer than ever before.

She couldn’t wait.

 

_Fin_

 

 


End file.
